


Partners In Crime - Part One

by Jayuscaper



Series: Partners For Life [1]
Category: Breaking Bad
Genre: AU, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Drug Use, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Underage, M/M, Mental Anguish, season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:28:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 61,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24776902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jayuscaper/pseuds/Jayuscaper
Summary: Jesse's non-stop parties are getting all the wrong attention, even under the watchful eye of Mike, under orders from Gus Fring, Jesse finds himself in a situation he never asked for, leaving Walter White to face something he never imagined he would, it's time for him to start paying closer attention to his young business partner.
Relationships: Jesse Pinkman/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Partners For Life [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1793962
Comments: 12
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this has been a bit of a passion project/distraction for the past 3 months in lockdown which is still ongoing. Part One has 10 parts, all written and waiting to post, which I will do over the coming days. Part Two is also already written which I'm estimating at this time to be about 6-8 parts and I'm currently writing Part Three which is already longer than Part Two lol
> 
> This story's inspiration was drawn from how lost Jesse was in the first few episodes of Season 4 - and is canon roughly up to episode 3, taking place for sure before Shotgun, it's a bit sketchy exactly when this takes over from canon but a reference point is that Jesse has a good head of hair at the start of this story (but sadly will shave his head at some point much further down the line...against my will, but hey ho...)
> 
> There are some call backs to canon dotted into the overall story to keep it on track a little but they become my own take, so I guess this is best described as an AU ending for Breaking Bad, one where Walter White has a wake up call about his relatioship with Jesse but Jesse probably suffers just as much tho, but gets the help he needs along the way in suprising ways... and he needs it.
> 
> I really hope this grabs peoples attention as I've had a lot of fun writing it, and creating my own little bubble in BB world, please feel free to comment/critique!

He had killed a man in cold blood. 

Pointed a gun at his head and fired. 

He will never forget the expression on Gale’s face as he fell back, aware of what had happened before he hit the ground dead. What had happened next Jesse Pinkman wasn’t entirely sure, he didn’t remember leaving but he was sat in his car when Victor pointed a gun at his head and for the first time in his life he felt no fear, Jesse felt absolutely nothing.

Victor himself was soon dead when Gus sliced his throat right in front of him and Mr White, and the blood hit him with force, the smell and shock momentarily caused him to shiver. He could take the blame for that one too, why not, that whole situation only existed because he pulled that trigger.

‘Hey, c’mon, take some.’

Jesse blinked his eyes, suddenly aware of his surroundings. The music was loud, and he was sat down on his futon sandwiched between two bodies, sweaty shifting bodies, fully clothed and then presented in front of him was an inviting line of something that could take the pain away. Without needing to even hesitate, Jesse leaned down and snorted the entire line and let his head fall back against the couch in a happy haze.

With an inane grin, Jesse found himself kissing the female to his right, a natural act that was eagerly accepted, aware that to his left whoever was sat there saw his action as an invitation to start stroking his chest, it was all fair game in that moment. Jesse broke the kiss and glanced towards the attentions he was getting to his left and watched as a spaced-out male pawed at his chest. Without word both parties either side of him started to work on lifting the hem of his shirt and riding it up. Jesse felt himself melting further back into the cushions of the futon without any cares, allowing himself to be felt up and explored by the two complete strangers. The hit was kicking in allowing him to drift, to forget and to escape, and the sensations coming from the close attentions felt amazing.

The house continued to party, a mixture of drugged up meth heads dancing to the never-ending beat and those looking for more extremes measures of entertainment that included violence and rage.

Outside the property Mike Ehrmantraut sat in his car observing, he had been growing increasingly concerned with the coming and goings of the young junkie, and the house parties did not sit well with him at all. It was attracting too much attention, putting too much of a spotlight on Pinkman and after a chat with Gus, it had been decided to simply observe for a few nights to get an understanding of where the kid’s head was at. To Mike, the little shit was on a downward spiral, out of control and inviting trouble, he clearly wanted to end his sorry existence in the best way possible,

Only trouble with that plan was that the kid was some sort of lynchpin to Walter White’s co-operation, ever since the kid started working with White at the lab things had become more manageable as far as the old chemistry teacher was concerned. Everyone paying attention had seen it, especially Gus and whilst it remained a mystery exactly why Jesse Pinkman was this stability Walter needed, they didn’t want to chance losing the kid because he decided to over indulge in the good stuff, so Mike continued to observe and ensure the little shit didn’t off himself by accident.

* * *

The stiffness in his neck jolted Jesse awake followed quickly by his name being spoken loudly. He was lying face down in his bed, the smell wasn’t pleasant and without looking Jesse knew he was naked, saved only by a sheet covering his calves, beside him he was aware without opening his eyes of at least two other bodies in his bed in a similar state of undress to him, their arms both draped over his back.

‘Pinkman, I do not have all day!’

Jesse struggled to roll over and push himself up, his hand grabbed the sheet to cover himself. ‘Mike?’ Jesse squinted and then rubbed his face.

‘The very same, are you intending to go to work today?’ Mike asked gruffly.

‘What’s the time?’ Jesse seemed to become alert suddenly.

‘You have an hour, get up, get showered, get dressed, I will drive you in considering your current state, that was quite a party you had last night,’ Mike recounted.

‘You were there?’ Jesse asked confused.

‘No, not for all of it,’ Mike stated. ‘Only once I had to send the cops away after the neighbours complained.’

‘Oh, thanks,’ Jesse offered tiredly.

‘My instructions were really easy, Pinkman, so get going, move!’

Jesse sighed and scooted off the bed, wrapping the sheet around him and heading to the bathroom.

* * *

Jesse squinted out of the car window, his hand trying to protect his eyes from the sun. A couple of times he looked like he was about to talk but stopped himself, as Mike drove them to the laundry.

‘I don’t care, kid.’

‘What?’ Jesse asked.

‘Whatever it is you think you need to say, I don’t care,’ Mike second guessed. ‘You’re a young man, with money, having fun.’

‘What did I do?’ Jesse then asked, he genuinely only had a sketchy memory of the previous night.

Mike smiled, a genuine amusement in his reaction. ‘That, kid, is the bigger concern here. By all means do these crazy young people things but in future try not being the one asking that question the next day.’

‘Seriously, what did I do?’ Jesse asked.

‘It’s not like I was being a voyeur, but you had fun with those two you woke up tangled with, that’s all I’m saying.’

‘Whatever, yo, it’s my business,’ Jesse remarked distantly.

Mike glanced at the kid, seeing the sadness and he returned his eyes to the road.

Jesse then fidgeted in the silence, casually glancing at Mike wondering just what he did see. ‘Ask me in the few hours, I’ll remember by then, I think my body is still in a happy buzz right now.’

‘You really are cool with the fact that I saw anything of what you did?’ Mike checked.

‘Depends if you enjoyed it,’ Jesse returned with the briefest of smiles.

‘It’s not something I’ll be in a hurry to witness again unless I’m told to,’ Mike sighed. ‘I feel obliged to warn you that what you are doing, those people non-stop partying in your house, it’s not a healthy lifestyle, kid.’

‘I need it,’ Jesse simply said.

‘I get it, I really do,’ Mike frowned. ‘But I’m worried about you.’

‘Yeah, well you are not my dad, you don’t even know me. Why were you even there?’ Jesse asked.

‘Gus is also worried,’ Mike simply said. ‘So far I’ve seen nothing too concerning, but I’m warning you, you go back on the H and I will put a stop to it all.’

Jesse noticeably flinched. ‘I have no plans to do that, yo,’ he stated without further comment, seemingly accepting Mike’s explanation for being in his house.

‘This has to stop at some point, kid,’ Mike then spoke sincerely.

Jesse glanced over to Mike but did not respond as they pulled up at the laundry. As they exited the car Walter White pulled up in his Aztec, so Jesse waited for him as he lit a cigarette and Mike stood close by.

‘Why are you being chaperoned?’ Walt asked once he finally got out the car, then walking with Jesse.

‘He’s worried about me,’ Jesse mocked, flicking his cigarette away before entering the building. “Making sure I got to work on time, I had a late one last night,’ Jesse simply added.

‘With Mike?’ Walt questioned.

‘What? No!’ Jesse returned angrily. ‘I had a late one as in a party at my house,’ Jesse corrected.

‘And you invited Mike?’

‘What are you trying to imply, yo,’ Jesse stated angrily, and then calmed himself down with a sigh, rubbing his head at the first sigh of a headache. ‘Seems Gus is watching me and my house.’

Walter White stopped Jesse in his tracks and glanced at Mike who came to a stop. ‘Is this true? Is Jesse under observation?’

‘Yes,’ Mike answered bluntly.

‘Care to tell me why?’ Walt asked as Jesse stood quietly next to him.

‘The kid is a liability, and someone has to keep an eye on him,’ Mike answered truthfully.

‘Suck my dick, dick’ Jesse snapped.

‘Interesting turn of phrase to use considering,’ Mike commented knowingly, and Jesse glared before turning on his heels and heading to the machine that hid the super lab.

‘Care to enlighten me?’ Walter asked, glancing at Jesse and seeing the unexplained anger.

‘He’s hungover, and he’s out of control, Walt,’ Mike stated. ‘He’s self-destructing and you have absolutely no idea, do you? He’s your partner, have you even noticed?’

‘Of course I have noticed, at least I can obviously see he’s out of sorts,’ Walt snapped. ‘Hardly surprising with what he’s been through lately,’ he added. ‘But I have my own concerns right now, like keeping us both alive when Gus clearly wants us dead once we finish our contract here.’

‘That may be true in your case,’ Mike simply said and continued walking, catching up with Jesse.

* * *

‘So, you really were planning on staying here all day,’ Walter White observed looking towards Mike, who was standing on the high gangway where he had watched them working for the whole cook.

‘I’m just following orders,’ Mike commented with a bored tone.

Walt glanced at Jesse, then back to Mike. ‘So, this keeping an eye on Jesse is an ongoing concern?’

‘It is when all evidence tells us the kid is out of control,’ Mike tiredly returned.

‘What?’ Jesse checked. ‘You know I’m right here, yo,’ Jesse stressed removing his ear buds, and joining in the conversation. ‘I’m fully in control, I don’t need a babysitter!’

‘Is that so,’ Mike remarked knowingly.

Jesse finished off loading the crystal onto the trolley and headed to the locker. ‘Yeah, and I guess you’re ok to give me a lift back home and making yourself useful?’

‘Ready and waiting,’ Mike drawled.

Jesse shrugged off his hazmat suit and started to get dressed. Walter soon joined him, he looked at Jesse with an air of concern. ‘You sure everything is ok?’ he whispered.

‘Yeah,’ Jesse answered dismissively in a hushed tone, as he tied up his sneakers.

‘So why the close protection?’ Walt asked quietly.

‘I don’t know,’ Jesse insisted but felt Walt’s intense stare. ‘They’re over-reacting, I’m just having fun nothing more, I think the world owes me that, right?’

‘Gus Fring has made his thoughts known to me very clearly about junkies, Jesse, so just be careful,’ Walt warned. ‘Mike is not a man you want to test, or even have assigned to you, he’s Gus’s top man, so take care understand?’ he added looking upwards.

‘I get it,’ Jesse sighed. ‘I’ll keep things strictly low key and fun.’

‘Sorry I couldn’t join you for go-karts the other night,’ Walt then thought to mention. ‘Maybe we should go and do something one night, not go-karts but something else, drinks at a bar?’

‘Maybe,’ Jesse said with no enthusiasm, he ran his hand through his hair and saw Walt staring at him.

‘How about you just have a few quiet nights and give them nothing to worry about?’ Walt advised.

‘Not going to happen,’ Jesse simply said without a thought, and hurried up the stairs. ‘Let’s go Alfred,’ Jesse mocked.

‘You are no Bruce Wayne I’m afraid,’ Mike shook his head as he followed Jesse out.

Walt closed his own locker and paused for a moment; he’d been so consumed by his own situation that he had totally ignored Jesses. Gus was looking out for the kid, assigned his best man to look after him, and Walt had a growing bad feeling about that especially as he suspected that Jesse was helping himself to the stock, he just hoped Jesse wasn’t being an idiot.

* * *

The house came into view and Mike came to a stop outside.

‘The batcave awaits,’ Mike remarked as he turned the engine off. ‘Sounds like the party has started without you.’

‘It never stopped,’ Jesse returned.

‘Hey kid, seriously, first thing you need to do is eat, you had nothing today,’ Mike spoke it like an order rather than concern. ‘You’re too skinny.’

Jesse glanced at him. ‘You’re not coming in to watch tonight?’ he sneered.

‘I’ll stay out here.’

‘You sure? You’re welcome to join us?’ Jesse offered with a smirk now.

‘As tempting as that is, I’ll happily decline,’ Mike simply returned.

‘Your loss,’ Jesse smiled and got out of the car and headed to his house. As he entered, he was pleased to hear the loud music still playing, people still hanging around. He glanced at the walls and saw graffiti had appeared, it looked cool he considered. A few new faces had replaced some of the ones who had been there earlier. Jesse dismissed any concerns and walked through the room, stepping over a couple making out and headed to the kitchen.

Looking around Jesse spotted some pizza boxes and dived in to retrieve a piece, he wasn’t feeling hungry, but Mike’s words had connected to some part of his brain, knowing he hadn’t eaten all day. As Jesse over chewed the food, he began to feel his head spinning, all his energy had been used up during the cook on maintaining focus and now he knew he was crashing. He gripped the counter-top, feeling his breathing becoming short as he tried to compose himself.

‘Are you ok?’ a male voice spoke up.

‘Yeah,’ Jesse said between gritted teeth, riding the chills going through him. ‘Just need a hit,’ he offered.

‘Let me help.’

Jesse felt a firm hand on his shoulder that started to lead him back to the main living space. No words were said as he was led to the futon and encouraged to sit down. Numbly Jesse watched as the man, someone he had not seen before that he remembered, cut him a line of meth. Once ready Jesse did not hesitate when given the rolled up twenty, and he snorted every last bit. He rested back against the futon and felt his body instantly relax, and the pain once again numbed. His male saviour took his own hit and then settled in next to Jesse, putting his arm around him, almost protectively. Jesse felt safe, comfortable and allowed himself to drift.

‘This is your house, right?’

Jesse rolled his head to face the man. ‘Yeah,’ he murmured.

‘Nice house,’ the man offered. ‘My name is Grant.’

‘Jesse,’ Jesse offered, resting his head on Grant’s shoulder.

‘Hey Jesse,’ a female sat herself next to Jesse, and he had no idea who she was but smiled in return as she kissed him fondly, her tongue quickly entering his mouth. The kiss became more animated as they explored each other, until she finally pulled away, settling in beside him, simply stroking his face which he liked.

‘Is everyone having fun?’ Jesse called out to the room, he received a chorus of replies in the positive and then he got to his feet. The music was vibrating through him as he began to move to the beats, and pretty soon a few others joined him, including Grant and the mysterious girl, both getting up close, and in his space as they danced. Jesse welcomed the close contact, the roaming hands, he didn’t want to be alone.

After a couple of songs Jesse felt himself being forcibly turned and he didn’t resist, even after he felt lips on his own invading his mouth. Briefly he opened his eyes and realised it was Grant, he was too far gone to stop it, even when Grant started rubbing his groin into Jesse.

Finally, Jesse pulled away. ‘I need another hit,’ he loudly said over the music to Grant, and pulled away to get another line prepared. He crouched down by the coffee table, taking a small bag from his pocket and emptying a couple of rocks onto the table. He took care to smash them up into as finer powder as his concentration allowed, cutting four lines. He took his hit and left the rest for whoever needed it, returning to the dance floor with more energy and purpose.

Grant moved to his side again, and Jesse felt an arm around his waist. ‘Hey, can you give me some room, yo,’ Jesse politely asked. 

Grant removed his hands and backed up with them in the air to show understanding, allowing Jesse to return to just moving to the music. The front door opened and a few more bodies entered the house, laughing loudly as they mixed themselves right into the throng of people.

Outside, Mike observed and was growing increasingly uneasy with the types of people piling into the house. All of his instincts screamed that he should call up some of his men and disperse the crowd, clear the house out and make sure the kid sleeps before his next shift. He was genuinely worried for the little shit, Mike had seen kids spiralling out of control when he was a beat cop and it was never fun, and the kids rarely bounced back. Jesse was still capable of doing his work, still has his wits about him but he needed to get past whatever this was that he was feeling. Seeing the kid high, and how he interacted in that state was concerning, the term ‘anybodys’ sprang to mind, he was so easily led he had observed and not in control at all. Being part of Gustavo’s empire did not allow for such a weak link in the operation.

Mike picked up his phone and dialled.

‘I want to break the Pinkman house party up for good,’ Mike simply said.

‘On what grounds?’ Gustavo Fring calmly asked.

‘A bad feeling,’ Mike responded.

‘Is the boy in danger?’

‘Mainly from himself but there’s a lot of new faces turning up that I don’t recognise,’ Mike explained. ‘Pinkman is exhausted, he was running on empty when he left the lab earlier, he needs to rest.’

‘See to it he does, as a priority,’ Gus decided.

‘Understood,’ Mike half smiled and finished the call, he then dialled another number.

‘I need you and the boys to join me at the Pinkman house in twenty, we have a chucking out session to do,’ Mike instructed and finished the call.

* * *

Jesse heard the raised voices, but simply ignore it. The crowd were getting rowdy, the drugs were freely flowing, and the music was killing it. He closed his eyes and just let himself be jostled about as the closeness of people enveloped him. He felt many hands on him, some accidental brushes but some more intentional as people moved to the beat, releasing their own inhibitions. Jesse became slowly aware of a body behind him, taller than him and some part of his brain knew it was Grant, but he was too high now to protest even when Grant’s hands pulled him in close. He felt himself being turned to face Grant, and Jesse just tried to keep things casual, he only wanted to dance and have fun so allowed Grant to explore his torso without protest. 

At some point Jesse found his shirt being removed, and only weakly tried to stop it but his reactions were too slow as his shirt was thrown into the crowd.

Grant began to get a little more intense with his attentions, so Jesse calmly tried to pull away to try and retrieve his shirt, but he was prevented from moving, suddenly aware that Grant was holding him tightly. It felt like a silent and open invitation has gone out to everyone around him when many more hands started touching him with purpose.

‘Hey! Let me go, yo,’ Jesse protested tiredly to those around him, and found a strong hand suddenly constricting the base of his neck. The crowd now seemed louder, and the music no longer a beat he was enjoying as he began to feel his internal panic rise, and he struggled against the hold on him. 

‘Hey!’ Jesse protested again but found himself being pushed with force to the floor, and before he could react bodies clambered down to join him, as if it was a game, holding him down despite his panicked struggles.

Jesse felt himself sobering up quickly as he kicked and wriggled against the many hands engulfing him, surrounding him, he was feeling claustrophobic as he fought being kept pushed down. Various bodies now covered him, he could feel lips on his chest, teasing him and then hands on his groin and he was losing the energy to keep fighting. Suddenly he felt hands under his armpits, and he limply allowed himself to be lifted, in spite of the many hands still trying to stop it, scratching him as he was pulled away.

‘Thanks,’ Jesse murmured, as he was finally pulled upright once again.

‘No problem,’ Grant smiled and embraced Jesse tightly, and before Jesse could react, he felt the man kissing him like before. Jesse put his hands on the man’s chest trying to push himself away, until he felt a stinging blow across his face, throwing his head to the side. Stunned, Jesse looked back at Grant before feeling himself being pushed back against the nearest wall under another forceful kiss, and Grant was now feeling every part of his body, one hand slipping below his waistband brushing against his bulge.

‘No, hey bitch, stop,’ Jesse stressed with anger, breaking the kiss as best he could, still trying to push back but his energy was draining with less fight now.

‘Been watching you, man,’ Grant hummed into his ear. ‘I want you, Jesse Pinkman, I want this house, I want your money.’

‘Then take it, just don’t do this, not like this,’ Jesse panicked, resting his forehead on Grant’s shoulder. ‘I’m really not into you, or this whatever it is.’

Grant grabbed Jesses jaw with force. ‘I don’t care,’ he growled, reasserting his strength by striking Jesse once again causing his head to now swim. ‘This isn’t about you.’

‘I kinda disagree, man,’ Jesse argued groggily, and gave up the fight with the mix of drugs, blood, alcohol and lack of sleep making him crash in this man’s arms. ‘Least let me take another hit if you’re going to do this.’

Grant turned around and gestured to the nearest body to get some lines prepared, then turned back to Jesse. ‘I’ll make you like this, I promise, I’ll have you begging for more when I’m done.’

‘Whatever,’ Jesse croaked, and glared at the stranger, who still had his hands tight around Jesse’s neck leaving him feeling dazed.

Grant invaded his mouth, releasing his grip slightly on Jesse neck allowing him to breath. Jesse gasped for air as Grant broke the kiss, his hands started roaming again, slipping into his pants and starting to tug earnestly. Jesse moaned, delirious with the conflicting emotions he was feeling before some lines were presented to him. Grant grabbed Jesse’s hair and forced his face into the lines, and Jesse wasted no time inhaling it, savouring the freedom and escape it provided. Grant took this as permission to continue and he pushed Jesse down to his knees, before unzipping himself.

‘No, man,’ Jesse shook his head wearily trying to push himself away, barely focusing but aware enough of what Grant wanted.

‘Bitch,’ Grant snapped and cuffed Jesse sharply across the face, he collapsed to the floor amongst the revellers and struggled to avoid being stepped on and kicked. Grant hauled him back up, pressing him against the wall again, his hand pressing harder around his neck. ‘You want this, admit it,’ Grant hissed. ‘You are begging for it, admit it!’ Grant yelled into Jesse’s face, a manic and threatening gaze on his face.

‘Jesse?’ Jesse tried to focus and realised Badger, as well as Skinny Pete, had returned to the house to re-join the party. ‘Are you ok, man?’

‘No,’ Jesse hoarsely replied, his eyes rolling as the room began to spin.

Grant glared at Jesse and the punk that had cut the lines handed another couple to Grant, he put the tile back under Jesse’s nose. ‘Take another hit, bitch.’

‘Jesse maybe you should take a breather, man,’ Badger suggested nervously.

With the drug so inviting right in front of his face, Jesse couldn’t resist the escape and eagerly snorted the line, relaxing instantly into the strong hold Grant had on him, he then choked a little as he desperately started to gasp for air.

‘Hey, dude, not cool man, get your hands off, Jesse,’ Badger requested trying to find some courage, and showing concern for his friend.

‘Yeah man, Jesse ain’t into that stuff, man,’ Skinny Pete backed up. ‘And this is his house, show some respect.’

‘Go play with yourselves, Jesse boy is busy,’ Grant requested handing the remaining lines to Badger to take away.

‘We’re not leaving him, he’s not ok,’ Badger persisted. ‘His face is turning blue,’ he feared.

‘He’s fine,’ Grant insisted. ‘He wants this, but more importantly I want this, so disappear.’

‘We can’t do that, yo,’ Skinny stated, with no intention of leaving Jesse with this man.

Grant took a deep and measured breath, and he moved his hand inside his jacket and pulled out a gun and pointed it straight at Skinny.

‘Whoa, dude!’ Badger panicked, whilst Skinny just stood stock still staring at the barrel, around them the party continued oblivious to the developing situation.

‘Willing to move now?’ Grant asked with a sneer.

Jesse was only vaguely aware of what was happening, the reduced oxygen and the hit had rendered him pretty much out of it, as he closed his eyes.

Badger looked at Jesse then looked at the gun, seeing his friend so close to falling unconscious scared him and his instincts kicked in and he made a grab for the gun, grabbing the man’s forearm. Grant finally released Jesse who slumped down onto the floor against the wall. Sensing some action the rest of the crowd were suddenly drawn to the struggle now happening between Grant and Badger, a dangerous tussle as Grant spun Badger around to shake his hold on his arm. Space cleared for them as they continued to spin around until finally Grant lost his patience, firing the gun to scare the kid in order to stop him.

Everybody stopped, the music played on, but no one moved for what seemed an eternity until they heard a pained groan. All eyes fell onto Jesse, his faced creased up in pain, and the growing red expanse on his chest grabbed everyone’s attention.

TBC


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike needs answers as to why Jesse got shot in his own house at his own party, and Walt is surprised by what he learns.

Mike snapped his attention to the house on hearing the gun shot, his men had been about to go in and he turned to them with haste. ‘Get in there!’ he yelled.

Walking briskly to the house, following his men he saw them go to work in clearing out the easy targets but found a lot of them were now leaving of their own accord with panic. He pushed through them and entered the house, finding only a handful of people staring blankly at something.

‘Secure the idiot with the gun!’ Mike ordered and his men soon had the shocked guy face down on the floor, the gun secured. ‘Get out of here, now!’ he yelled at the stragglers and the worst-case scenario was realised when he finally locked eyes on who had been shot.

‘I’m not leaving him, man!’ Badger protested in panicked tones, kneeling by a slumped Jesse pressing the discarded t-shirt against his friend’s bloody chest. Skinny Pete just hovered unsure, not truly understanding what was happening.

Mike surveyed the scene, Jesse was still semi-conscious and in great pain but strangely silent by his standards, only groaning. he was aware of Jesse’s friends Skinny Pete and Badger from previous surveillance and understood why they weren’t moving.

‘Let us deal with this, we know what we are doing,’ Mike encouraged and moved Badger aside letting his men take over Jesse’s care, they had a medical bag and immediately began to administer emergency care.

Mike calmly took out his phone and dialled a number. ‘We have a man down, I need assistance,’ Mike spoke then listened. ‘Jesse Pinkman, gunshot wound, upper chest right shoulder area, blood loss.’ Mike nodded his head. ‘Understood, he will be there in fifteen minutes.’

Mike retuned the phone to his pocket and turned to Jesse’s friends, the only ones remaining in the house now who were not Mike’s men. ‘Get out of here, he’s in the best hands and he’ll be fine, trust me.’

‘Aren’t you calling an ambulance?’ Badger checked.

‘We will look after him, you have my word, go home and I will speak to you later,’ Mike stated calmly, then turned to his men who were tending to Jesse. ‘Get him ready to move, we need to be across town pronto.’

‘Man, he don’t look too good,’ Skinny worried. ‘He’s our brother, he can’t be dying and shit.’

‘Get out, the sooner you do the better his chances, I need to lock this place up,’ Mike instructed, and it had the desired effect, as both Badger and Skinny left, albeit with concerned faces.

Mike crouched down beside Jesse. ‘Hey kid, look at me, look at me,’ he instructed with force, grabbing his chin and Jesse numbly glanced at Mike. ‘You’re going to be ok, hold on.’

‘It burns,’ Jesse mumbled. ‘Hurts so bad,’ he added with a pained expression.

‘I know kid, it’s no fun, but it’ll be alright,’ Mike assured him. ‘Just hang in there.’

Mike’s men gathered Jesse up and within minutes he was in a car and heading across town.

* * *

Walter White took a moment to register a phone buzzing before he checked the time, nearly 3am and he cursed whoever was calling. He picked up his phone and saw it was an unknown number, against his better judgement he answered in a whisper.

‘Walt, it’s Mike.’

‘Mike? Why on Earth are you calling me at this hour?’ Walt asked, as he got out of bed and paced the room.

‘It’s Jesse,’ Mike’s voice was low, and sent shivers down Walt’s spine.

‘What’s happened?’ he feared asking.

‘An incident, at his house, he’s critical.’

‘Critical, what the hell happened?’ Walt was now fully alert.

‘He was shot,’ Mike revealed. ‘You might want to be here, it’s touch and go.’

‘Send me the address, I’m guessing he’s not at a regular hospital,’ Walt sighed, and the call was abruptly finished. Walt found himself staring at the phone, Jesse had been shot, the news began to sink in and sent his mind into a spin. How had that happened, who had done it? Walt felt afraid for Jesse, somewhat glad now that Mike was near at least when it had happened as he hurriedly got dressed.

* * *

Mike observed the doctors and nurses as they worked on Jesse, he followed most of what was happening. They had removed the bullet, and were now trying to fix the shoulder that had shattered, there was wire or metal plate work of some sort currently going in. He was already on his fourth blood transfusion, but for the most part the kid was at least out of immediate danger but still critical with the delicate work still being done. The work had been hindered by Jesse’s drug infused state, he had started to wake up during surgery causing his heart rate to go sky high but they managed to bring it back under control with more drugs, which wasn’t ideal but had kept him alive.

His phone buzzed and he saw Walt’s message, he was outside. Mike tore his attention from Jesse and made his way calmly to the door.

‘Get inside,’ Mike instructed, and Walt hurried inside. Leading the way, Mike approached the area where they were still working on Jesse, and sensed Walter White’s apprehension. ‘He’s a fighter,’ Mike simply observed.

‘Oh my god,’ Walt caught sight of his prone partner, seeing all the tubes and machines, as well as the doctors actively operating on him as he looked on. ‘What happened?’

‘Not exactly sure,’ Mike admitted. ‘I was seconds away from piling into the house with my men, to clear it out, I was concerned that Jesse wouldn’t be rested for the next shift.’

‘Why was Jesse filling his house with these people, why did they have guns?’ Walt asked out loud not expecting an answer.

‘He’s been lost for a while, Walt,’ Mike shrugged. ‘It’s how he’s been coping.’

‘I’ve always tried to stay out of his personal life,’ Walt sighed. ‘He made it clear it wasn’t my business, but he just can’t help himself, the damn drugs keep dragging him down, he’s always been the biggest danger to himself.’

‘Ain’t that the truth,’ Mike agreed. ‘He’s a good kid, even if he can be a little shit.’

Walt smirked at that. ‘Amen to that,’ he said and absently checked his phone, he seemed a little distracted or nervous and Mike could only roll his eyes at his overall demeanour.

Mike glared at Walt. ‘Listen, I don’t care what power trip you are on right now, what your own fears or paranoias are telling you. Right now, that kid, that lost soul in there, he needs you, he has no one else. Please don’t make me hate you anymore than I do already,’ Mike warned.

Walter White stared at Mike but slowly nodded his head. ‘Of course,’ he stated coldly. ‘Look, I do care about Jesse, surely that’s obvious when I keep insisting the kid stays alive if you want me to cook?’

Mike observed the other man showing no reaction. ‘This was an accident, one I will personally investigate, trust me. So, don’t be getting any stupid ideas in your head about this being about you, no one was trying to kill Jesse to get to you, understand?’

‘Understood,’ Walt accepted, a flash of guilt showing for a couple of seconds on his face. ‘Is he going to be ok?’

Mike sighed. ‘It got him in the right shoulder, the bullet shattered bone that’s needed some fixing, plates and stuff,’ Mike offered grimly. ‘The kid was high when it happened, I’m not sure if that helped or not with his mindset.’

Walt took a few steps closer and simply stared at Jesse prone on the bed, surrounded by doctors and equipment looking so small and fragile. ‘He’s going to be ok, right?’

‘He’s not out of danger just yet, but he’s in the best hands,’ Mike stated.

‘Better than those at the hospital?’ Walt sneered.

‘These doctors are the best combat army medical doctors in this area,’ Mike calmly replied. ‘I’m sure even you can work out who would have more experience with gunshot wounds.’

‘Gustavo really does think of everything,’ Walt remarked with an air of distrust.

‘Maybe try showing some gratitude to the man who has been aware enough to keep an eye on your young wayward partner, Walt, and was in a position to save his life when needed,’ Mike drawled. ‘Now, I am going to speak to the people involved in this mess, I trust you can let yourself out.’

‘I want to come with you,’ Walt stated.

‘You think that’s a good idea, do you?’ Mike seemed confused.

‘He’s my partner, I want to know what happened,’ Walt explained.

‘And I will tell you my conclusion as soon as I have it,’ Mike argued.

‘Mike, I want to do this,’ Walt insisted. ‘I owe it to Jesse, you’re right, I’ve been too self-consumed lately as you’ve been gently telling me, correct?’

‘Follow me,’ Mike simply said.

* * *

‘That guy was insane, man,’ Badger raged.

‘All over Jesse like a rash, bro, Jesse wasn’t into it at all,’ Skinny Pete added. ‘Had his tongue down his throat and everything when we arrived.’

‘His face was blue, yo,’ Badger continued. ‘Guy had his hand around his neck, I think I saw him hit him as well, marks on his face,’ he stopped talking and stared at the two visitors.

Mike glanced at Walt, just to gauge his reaction and he wasn’t surprised by the shocked expression, he turned back to Badger. ‘Had you seen this man, this reveller, before?’

‘No, never,’ Badger stated confidently.

‘Did Jesse appear to be friendly with this man, welcoming the advances at all?’ Mike asked.

‘He was struggling, yo,’ Skinny spoke up. ‘Trying to fight the dude off but he was so far gone, drugs and shit, and the guy too strong,’ he shrugged.

‘I asked Jesse if he was ok and he said no,’ Badger remembered.

‘When did the guy draw the gun?’ Mike then asked.

‘I was telling him to let Jesse go,’ Badger stressed.

‘Yeah, we were just trying to help our brother and this dude just loses his shit, draws a big ass gun and points it at my head,’ Skinny recalled.

‘Jesse was nearly passed out, that maniac was holding his neck like a psycho,’ Badger looked worried. ‘I saw a chance and I grabbed his arm, but he was strong, just sent me flying around and then I don’t know, he just fired the gun.’

‘Did he purposely aim it at Jesse? Was he trying to kill Jesse?’ Mike pushed.

‘I don’t know, I don’t think so,’ Badger tried to think.

‘Guy wanted Jesse alive, man, he wanted Jesse full stop, not dead I don’t think,’ Skinny observed, then shrugged, glancing momentarily at Walt. ‘I mean, my man Jesse’s always had pervs hitting on him, cos of his size, his looks and shit, but this was different, this was crazy, man.’

‘So, you would say the shooting was an accident, Jesse was just unlucky to get hit?’ Mike checked.

‘Yeah, I think so,’ Badger shrugged. ‘The guy was a maniac though, who does that, who pulls a gun and does that stuff to another dude against his will?’

‘It’s messed up that’s what it is, Jesse was not a willing participant, you hear me?’ Skinny supported. ‘Jesse didn’t deserve to get shot in his own house, at his own party!’

Mike’s phone buzzed and he quickly checked it, a brief smile on his face. ‘Well you’ll be pleased to know your man Jesse is stable, and out of danger,’ he announced.

‘Oh, thank god,’ Walt spoke up for the first time.

‘That’s great news,’ Badger smiled broadly.

Skinny hugged Badger with relief. ‘Jesse, our man, strongest dude I know, yo!’

‘Well, thank you for your time,’ Mike got to his feet and gestured to Walt to join him. ‘We won’t take up any more of it up.’

‘It’s cool, yo,’ Badger shook Mike’s hand. ‘Is there a way to see Jesse? Visiting hours or something?’

‘No, but he should be home soon, I’ll get him to call you as soon as he’s able,’ Mike offered, with no intention of doing so.

* * *

‘Well that was enlightening,’ Walt finally remarked once they had pulled away from the home of Badger.

‘It certainly was, I’m looking forward to talking to the shooter now,’ Mike agreed.

‘I mean the part where that guy had his tongue down Jesse’s throat,’ Walt frowned. ‘And I saw how Skinny looked at me when he mentioned pervs being drawn to Jesse, I mean what was that about? They both know our business is the meth, nothing more.’

Mike glanced at Walt, a wry smile on his face. ‘He’s a popular guy at his own parties, Walt, he gets high and inhibitions leave the room in those moments. It sounds like both Skinny and Badger have had their fair share of needing to keep an eye on the kid.’

‘Well clearly this Grant guy took advantage of that,’ Walt countered.

‘That does appear to be the case on this occasion, but there is something not right about this, something different,’ Mike considered. ‘Our previous observations have noted that Jesse doesn’t usually resist such advances.’

‘Your observations?’ Walt checked with amazement. ‘You’re watching him, in the sense of watching him like what? Perverts?’

‘Calm down,’ Mike dismissed. ‘There would be times over the past couple of weeks that would require one of my men to break up a fight, or call off the law and in those moments it was very rare not to find young Pinkman in a state of undress, and in the arms of some female or male, and he doesn’t seem very picky or in need of our help to stop such attentions usually.’

Walt seemed to consider Mike’s response. ‘It’s just a bit of a shock, I’ve never really had to think about it, only known him to have a girlfriend, Jane, before – well, you know what happened to her,’ Walt explained.

‘Walt, it doesn’t matter what the boy does in his own home,’ Mike sighed.

‘Well clearly that’s not true otherwise why are you observing him? You said he’s out of control, so surely what he’s doing in his own home in a concern, right?’ Walt argued.

‘Let me rephrase my point, don’t get all het up about the fact Jesse swings both ways, that’s never been our concern, you get my drift?’ Mike stated.

‘How very open minded of you Mike, very refreshing for a man your age,’ Walt mocked.

‘Jesse doesn’t need any more hang ups about his life choices, Walt,’ Mike stated. ‘Let’s focus on the bigger issues.’

Walt glanced at Mike and simply nodded his head to agree, but internally his mind was racing with the idea he still had a lot to learn about young Jesse, it was information that consumed him for some reason, set his thoughts racing.

* * *

‘Tell me your name!’ Mike bellowed, as Walt sat quietly in the corner roughly an hour later. The windowless room was bare of any decoration, and the guy who shot Jesse sat in a chair, secured, opposite Mike.

‘Grant,’ the man simply said.

‘Grant who?’ Mike asked.

‘Grant Burley,’ the man replied.

‘Nice cover name, now what’s your real name?’ Mike demanded.

‘That is my name,’ Grant answered but glanced away.

‘If that is your name then you’ve given it up really quickly, that has me suspicious,’ Mike stated and saw Grant simply shrug. ‘What’s your interest in Jesse?’

‘He’s cute,’ Grant offered simply. ‘Nice body, I was high, he was willing.’

Walt rolled his eyes, not use to hearing his partner spoken of in that way.

‘But he wasn’t willing, was he?’ Mike returned. ‘The bruises around his neck, and on his face, they tell a different story.’

‘I can get a bit aggressive when high,’ Grant offered calmly.

‘So why carry a gun into these situations if you are aware of your own lack of discipline?’ Mike asked pointedly.

Grant visibly shrunk back. ‘That was a mistake,’ he offered.

‘You think?’ Walt scoffed and got a glare from Mike for his comment.

‘Those kids were annoying me,’ Grant explained.

‘You mean Jesse’s friends? The ones looking out for their buddy, stopping him being raped?’ Mike asked.

‘R-Raped?’ Grant repeated.

‘You heard right,’ Mike stressed with disgust. ‘How would you describe what you were attempting to do?’

Grant looked downwards, clearly uncomfortable. ‘It was just a bit of fun, it was the drugs, I really do like him and I’d never hurt him.’

‘You shot him!’ Walt spoke up again. ‘And you barely know him!’

‘Walt, please?’ Mike glared at Walt. ‘What he said,’ Mike turned back to Grant.

‘I do know him,’ Grant argued. ‘I went to high school with him.’

‘Lies,’ Walt stated, and this time Mike didn’t stop him. ‘I don’t recognise you, and you clearly don’t recognise me.’

‘Should I?’ Grant asked.

‘If you went to high school with Jesse then yes, I was one of his teachers,’ Walt revealed and it was clear Grant had no answer, having been caught out.

‘OK,’ Grant frowned. ‘I’ve heard about his parties, a friend showed me pictures he took, and I saw Jesse in a few of the pics and instantly was drawn to him, I liked him, ok?’ Grant flustered. ‘Really liked him like instant attraction, so decided to check him out for myself and I guess,’ he paused and sighed. ‘I got a little bit crazy.’

‘I ask again, why did you bring a gun to Jesse’s house?’ Mike asked.

‘Look I know you’re not the cops, and I know you can’t hold me like this,’ Grant became defensive, fighting his restraints.

‘The gun, Grant, why did you have a gun at the party?’ Mike persisted.

‘I don’t know!’

‘I think you do, Grant, tell me,’ Mike pushed.

‘Seriously what is your problem old man!’ Grant stressed.

‘I’m not in the habit of asking too many times, if you catch my drift,’ Mike warned.

Grant stared at Mike, then at Walt before finally sinking back into his chair. ‘In case he rejected me,’ Grant sighed, his voice barely a whisper.

‘Are you for real?’ Mike got to his feet with anger. ‘So, your plan was to have Jesse whether he wanted it or not, you went to that house with the full intention of raping him or killing him, correct?’

‘No!’ Grant screamed back in his defence.

‘Do you want to think about your answer some more?’ Mike suggested. ‘You went to his house with a gun. You are a sick fuck, you know that?’

‘Mike,’ Walt now spoke up to try and calm the old man down, sensing danger.

‘So, what are you going to do? You’re not cops, so now what?’ Grant asked.

‘Well it’s your lucky day that we don’t like drawing the attentions of the cops, so I would like to inform you in no uncertain terms that Jesse is protected, he’s off limits, out of bounds, not in your league, do you understand?’ Mike sneered into the man’s face.

‘Understood,’ Grant agreed.

‘We will be keeping tracks and if we so much as see you even looking at Jesse from even a mile away, we will bury you, you got it?’ Mike stated clearly.

‘Ok, jeez I got it,’ Grant stressed angrily.

Mike gestured to Walt to get up and they both left the room. They walked out of the building and headed towards the car. ‘My men will dump him in the desert to find his own way home, hopefully we’ve shaken him up enough to never be a problem again. We ran background on him, his face and prints are not on file so hopefully just a love-sick little boy who will quickly move on.’

‘Jesse made quite an impression on him,’ Walt considered. ‘I mean to get that worked up about a guy just from photos?’ Mike didn’t respond and kept walking towards the car.

They got in the car and Mike pulled away. ‘Let’s go check on the kid.’

‘He’s grown on you, hasn’t he?’ Walt observed.

Mike glanced at Walt and rolled his eyes. ‘Jesse is part of the organisation, that makes him my business.’

‘Come on, just admit it, Jesse’s got under your skin, same as he did with me,’ Walt smiled. ‘As you said, he’s a little shit, but finds a way to get to you.’

Mike had to smirk. ‘He is a little shit, agreed, but the minute he becomes a liability or of no further interest to the business don’t doubt that I will follow orders.’

‘You harm a hair on that boys head, and you lose me, you lose your cook,’ Walt warned.

‘Yeah, yeah, heard it all before,’ Mike mocked. ‘I’ve identified two dangers to Jesse Pinkman, the first is himself, that I think you agree with and the second, is you, Walter White. So, whilst Jesse is under my protection, as part of my arrangement with Gustavo Fring, be aware that I will be doing all I can to lessen those two dangers to his life.’

Walter White glanced at Mike. ‘Whatever you have planned for Jesse, whatever these games are that you’ve been playing between us, I’m onto you and so I might add is Jesse, so don’t be so cocksure. But right now, I don’t care about your empty threats, we push them all aside until Jesse is back on his feet, ok?’

‘Ok,’ Mike simply said, and they drove the rest of the way in silence.

* * *

The heart monitor provided the only sound now, Jesse was still as he lay unconscious on the white sheets. A mask covered his nose and mouth to feed him clean oxygen, both hands had feeds going into his veins to assist with his recovery, blood and drugs. A huge white bandage covered his right shoulder, purple reddish bruises had formed on Jesses neck and face, and angry looking scratches covered his exposed torso across his chest and stomach.

Walt stood with Mike surveying the prone figure of Jesse before them. Each of them staring at the kid in recovery from emergency surgery.

‘This is the third time, third time in what, just over a year?’ Walt broke the silence.

‘For what?’ Mike asked.

‘Standing at Jesses hospital bed,’ Walt revealed.

‘The kid invites trouble,’ Mike took a seat nearby.

Walt considered Mike’s response before turning to him. ‘Why do you to say that? You’ve known Jesse for what, four, five months maybe?’

‘Let’s just say I’ve only known him for that time and in that first time I met him I had to clean his apartment after his girlfriend OD’s, then found him in a crack house completely out of it, checked him into rehab, stopped him killing two drug dealers, before he then killed another guy in cold blood, and then helped him, with you, melt a body in a barrel before spending the last fourteen days of my life witnessing god knows what in his house and seeing way more than I really wanted to of young Pinkman, then he gets shot, so you tell me why I come to that conclusion,’ Mike said dryly.

Walt sighed, and took the seat next to Mike. ‘Ok, maybe you have a point.’

‘The two of you are trouble, period,’ Mike then stated. ‘I have no idea why my boss remains so hell bent on keeping either of you around.’

‘Because together we are the best at what we do,’ Walt stated with confidence.

‘Hmmm,’ Mike crossed his arms. ‘When you actually do what you do best, and you’re not both running around making messes for me to keep cleaning up.’

‘Will you two please keep it down, I’m trying to rest here,’ Jesse’s voice suddenly spoke up, and both men got to their feet.

‘Jesse,’ Walt said with relief. ‘It’s good to hear your voice.’

‘Where the hell am I?’ Jesse asked and then winced with pain, as he tried to sit up.

‘Stay down, you’re in a medical facility,’ Walt offered calmly. ‘You got hurt, shot, but they fixed you up.’

‘Shot?’ Jesse exclaimed and the panicked and confused expression was clear to see.

‘It was a clean shot, kid,’ Mike offered with authority. ‘You will make a full recovery so don’t panic and just focus on your rehabilitation.’

Jesse looked at Mike and visibly calmed down, much to Walt’s annoyance. ‘You’ll be fine, Jesse,’ Walt added.

‘What happened?’ Jesse asked bewildered now.

‘You had an unwelcomed house guest, but he’s been sorted now,’ Mike offered.

‘Grant,’ Jesse remembered. ‘What did you do to him?’

‘Sent him packing, he won’t be bothering you again,’ Mike assured him.

‘Good,’ Jesse simply said, and grimaced as he tried to get comfortable.

A nurse walked into the room and began to check Jesse’s vitals, making notes as she went. She kept glancing at the two older gentlemen, but no words were said. ‘How are you feeling Mr Pinkman?’ she then asked Jesse.

‘Ok, I guess,’ Jesse frowned.

‘Do you feel sick, hungry, tired?’

‘Just tired,’ Jesse answered.

‘You need to eat something do you feel up to that?’ she asked.

‘No,’ Jesse replied tiredly.

‘Ok, but I will need to bring some food in an hour or so, you’re under orders to gain some weight,’ she stated and left the room.

‘Told you, kid, told you that you didn’t eat enough,’ Mike remarked once she was gone.

Walt looked between Mike and then Jesse and back again. ‘What, are you his father now?’

‘Look at him Walt, the kid has not had a decent meal in months,’ Mike simply said.

Jesse sighed, but didn’t speak as Walt took a moment to look at his slight frame, he really was just skin and bones but with the clothes he wears he hadn’t really noticed, but it annoyed him that Mike had.

‘Now is not the time to go against doctor’s advice, Jesse, so we can get you back on your feet,’ Walt deflected. ‘Make sure you do eat,’ he added but then noticed Jesse had drifted off to sleep again so he turned back to Mike. ‘I’m going to go and get some rest I trust Jesse will still be here tomorrow?’

‘I will keep you in the loop if not,’ Mike informed him.

‘You’re going to stay here with him?’ Walt checked.

‘Tyrus is coming by in about an hour to relieve me,’ Mike stated, and looked at Walt. ‘But I’ll remain his primary shadow until he gets through whatever this phase is.’

‘Phase?’ Walt checked.

‘He’s using again, doesn’t that on any level concern you? He was doing so well, and now he’s not and you are part of the reason why,’ Mike stood up to stand in front of Walt. ‘When will you start to notice something that isn’t all about you? When you’re dragging his sorry ass out of a crack house again, is that when it becomes a concern to you?’

Walt glared at Mike and considered his response. ‘I am not his father, Mike, Jesse is not my personal responsibility he’s just my business partner and I trust him to be an adult, and that includes looking after himself.’

Mike frowned. ‘Well I guess that’s cleared that up.’

‘I’ll be in touch after I’ve had some rest,’ Walt simply said and left the building.

Mike walked over to the bed and looked at Jesse. ‘You heard all that didn’t you?’

‘Yeah,’ Jesse sighed, opening his eyes again. ‘Why do you keep antagonising him?’

‘It’s fun,’ Mike shrugged. ‘The guy is so full of himself, needs someone standing up to him.’

Jesse looked at Mike, and then grinned. ‘So, you are literally just winding him up, using me?’

‘Is that ok?’ Mike asked, with a wry smile.

‘Oh, I get a say now?’ Jesse mocked shock. ‘Look, Mr White was correct on one thing, he’s not my dad and either are you, I shouldn’t need anyone looking out for me,’ Jesse sighed. ‘But tonight, I’m glad you were there, thanks for saving me.’

‘I’m glad I was there too, kid,’ Mike patted his arm. ‘Now get some rest, and when they tell you to eat, just eat kid, ok?’ he advised and sat back down.

* * *

The diner was empty bar for a couple of truckers and a lone figure stood outside. The car pulled in and parked in front of the figure, who proceeded to get inside. The car pulled away and re-joined the empty desert road, heading back towards civilisation.

‘Is there a reason I’m picking you up before dawn in the middle of nowhere? Am I to assume the plan failed?’

Grant looked at his father and frowned. ‘I almost had him.’

‘What happened?’

‘I accidently shot him,’ Grant groaned.

‘What?’ his father yelled. ‘He’s dead?’

‘I don’t think he is, I’m not even sure what happened but within seconds there were these guys there taking him out like he’s in some private army, then took me to this unmarked building, questioned me and then dumped me out here,’ Grant explained.

‘The kid might be more loaded than we realised, if he can afford that sort of protection,’ the father considered. ‘Where the hell did you find this one?’

‘Just heard about some rich junkie kid who threw never ending parties with plenty of cash to throw around,’ Grant offered.

‘We need the money, Grant, we need this kid to be our friend, do you think you can still do that now you’ve shot him?’ his father asked.

Grant looked at his father incredulously. ‘Gee, let me think, I’m pretty sure I might have destroyed that particular opportunity.’

‘So, what now? We send another young stud after him?’ his father asked, sounding desperate.

‘Did you miss the part about the fact he has his own personal army?’ Grant questioned. ‘No, I say we just go old school on this one, we take him, we get the money by force. The kid was practically giving me his house and fortune for just sticking my tongue down his throat, he’ll be easy to break and blackmail.’

‘And you think if we do that you can stop yourself shooting him?’ his father checked.

‘Funny,’ Grant sneered. ‘I’ll talk to my guys and work something out.’

TBC


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Jesse is attacked again, Mike delves deeper into the possible reasons why making a discovery he wishes he hadn't, and then needs to ensure whoever wants Jesse doesn't get third time lucky.

Walter White watched as Tyrus assisted with the heavy lifting in the super lab. He missed having Jesse around, for all his faults Jesse didn’t need to be told at every step what needed to be done. The kid was a hard worker who only ever needed to be told or shown once and things got done. Walt knew Jesse could run this lab on his own, he’d never admit that out loud, but he was sharper than people gave him credit for, and he’d done this enough now to be able to cook the recipe. 

Jesse was a threat, but he was under control, under his control and Walt knew that was something he needed to maintain. Mike was getting too close to the boy, and Gus was becoming too invested in Jesse to the point he could possibly start to see beyond the junkie tag. Walt had not worked out how to fix that yet, Jesse needed to know where his loyalties should remain by any means possible, and Walt started to wonder how he could enforce that on him.

To his surprise the door to the lab opened above them, Walt stepped out to see who was coming and was shocked to see Jesse, closely followed by Mike.

‘Jesse?’ Walter called out.

‘Hey Mr White!’ Jesse cried out enthusiastically, as he descended the spiral staircase.

‘When did you get out?’ Walt headed towards him. Jesse looked tired, his right arm was in a sling but otherwise Walt found himself relieved to see him walking and talking again.

‘Just got out,’ Jesse offered. ‘Three days in that place was driving me crazy.’

‘First stop he wanted to make was here, so clearly his brain still needs fixing,’ Mike remarked dryly remaining on the walkway above them.

‘How’s the cook?’ Jesse asked, going to Tyrus’s side to check the weights.

‘Yeah, good,’ Walt revealed. ‘Have you been eating like a good boy?’ Walt then asked, mockingly.

‘Yes, dad,’ Jesse groaned.

‘And the shoulder, is that ok?’ Walt enquired.

Jesse glanced at the heavy bandage that could be seen under his shirt. ‘I’m on strong pain meds, which help but can only take them for few more days, what with my history,’ Jesse explained and then went over to one of the vats to check the dials.

‘You’re looking well, it’s good to see,’ Walt offered genuinely and brushed Jesse’s arm.

‘Yeah, thanks,’ Jesse simply said. ‘Well I just wanted to see how things were going, feeling pretty tired so should probably head home now.’

‘Go rest, you’ll be back here helping me soon enough,’ Walt encouraged. Jesse smiled briefly before heading back up the stairs to walk with Mike towards the exit. ‘Is he still under your watchful eye, Mike?’ Walt called after the old man.

‘For now, yes,’ Mike simply responded without further comment, and Walter watched as the two left the lab, then noticed Tyrus’s careful observation of him. 

The sudden burst of energy Jesse had brought into the lab had instantly brightened Walt’s mood, the prospect that Jesse would be back sooner than he thought was a nice one. Walt walked over the to the desk and began to put some numbers down on a pad, but his mind soon returned to his ongoing situation. Jesse’s first thoughts on leaving the medical facility was to come to the lab, to see the cook or to see him? Maybe, just maybe, Walt considered, he didn’t have to be too concerned about where Jesse’s loyalties lay, he already had the kid right where he wanted him. With a smile, Walt finished up the figures, now he just had to work out how to use that to his advantage.

* * *

It was dark when the car pulled up outside Jesse’s house and once the engine was killed, Mike moved to get out.

Jesse glanced over to him. ‘So, you are coming in today?’ he checked brightly.

‘Do you have a problem with that?’ Mike asked.

‘Just normally you sit out here,’ Jesse shrugged.

‘Normally you’re not just shot,’ Mike observed. ‘And seeing as your never-ending party has ended, finally, I figure I can get some important reading done if I come inside.’

‘OK,’ Jesse accepted quickly and opened the car door, and despite his injury he got out quickly and almost bounced towards the house, with Mike following him across the grass to the house.

Before reaching the door, Mike glanced across the street and spotted a dark sudan, one he hadn’t noticed before and his natural instincts caused him to stop and observe for a moment. On cue the headlights flashed on and the car slowly pulled away, heading away from the house and out of sight.

‘What’s up?’ Jesse asked, having noticed Mike had stopped behind him.

‘Not sure, probably nothing,’ Mike responded. ‘I’m going to be staying the night if that’s ok,’ he then stated as he followed Jesse into the house.

‘Sure, ok,’ Jesse frowned, a little unsure. ‘What’s got you spooked?’

‘As I said, I’m not sure and when I’m in that frame of mind I don’t take any chances,’ Mike informed him. ‘I can sleep on the futon.’

Mike noticed that Jesse had stopped in the middle of the room, he was staring at the place where he has been shot a few days before. ‘I’m glad you’re staying tonight,’ Jesse then absently admitted.

‘I sent a clean-up crew over here yesterday, they tidied the whole house up for you,’ Mike gestured. ‘There should be no traces of anything that might trigger you,’ he hinted.

‘Thanks,’ Jesse simply said, still staring at the spot even though there was nothing to see.

‘You’re safe in these walls,’ Mike assured him.

Jesse seemed to shake himself out of his trance. ‘Sorry, just remembering some stuff that I hadn’t till now,’ Jesse admitted. ‘That guy, Grant, he freaked me out.’

‘Your friends told me he was forcing himself on you, before the shooting,’ Mike spoke with care. ‘The bruises on your neck and face supported their story.’

Jesse absently rubbed his neck. ‘Yeah, the guy was nuts, was all over me, possessive and shit, yo,’

‘You won’t have to worry about him,’ Mike stated confidently, omitting to tell him about the guys violent record.

Jesse glanced at Mike and decided he did not want to know what was hidden behind that statement. ‘Shall we order a takeaway?’

‘Why not,’ Mike brightened.

* * *

It was still dark out when Jesse was jolted awake by pain in his shoulder, with a grimace Jesse put his hand to the bandage and took some calming deep breaths. He slowly managed to push himself up, fighting the pain, and got out of bed. With care, and still holding his shoulder, Jesse moved to the bathroom forgoing the sling. The light stung his eyes momentarily as he got his bearings and headed to the counter where his medicine bottles were sitting. He shook out a couple of painkillers and quickly swallowed them with a glass of water, then washed his face. Looking at his reflection in the mirror he saw the purple bruises around his neck for the first time, the previous feeling of gasping for air gripped him in shock for a moment before he looked down to calm his sudden shaken nerves.

He walked back into the bedroom and grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around himself before he walked down the stairs quietly. He saw Mike sleeping on the futon as he walked into the living room, he took the few steps down into the main part and sat in the circular chair, wrapping the blanket around himself as he settled down. Jesse was just about to drift off when a sound outside snapped him awake, he focused on every noise and then heard it again, a rattling noise as if someone was testing the window, and it was coming from the kitchen.

Discarding the blanket, Jesse got to his feet and slowly moved towards the kitchen. He glanced for a moment at Mike who had remained asleep, and not wanting to disturb him in case it was just paranoia, Jesse continued heading towards the kitchen. When he got to the hallway the noise became a lot more prominent and he now knew it was not his imagination, someone was trying to get into the house. Jesse glanced around and saw nothing he could use as a weapon, so he crept into the kitchen and froze when he saw maybe two figures at the door trying to shimmy it open. He grabbed a pan, keeping his injured right arm close to his side, normally his stronger one and cursed his injury. Jesse was just about to back out of the kitchen again, and wake Mike up, when the door suddenly burst open and two men stormed in and were standing before him. They saw Jesse and did not hesitate to start approaching him, Jesse held up the pan in his weaker hand, ignoring the throbbing in his other shoulder.

‘Back off man!’ Jesse warned.

‘What? You’re going to fry us an egg or something?’ one of the men asked, they were both dressed in black, with sunglasses and hats to hide any discernible features. They both then raised their guns at him, causing Jesse to freeze with fear as flashbacks invaded his mind to his last encounter with a gun.

‘Look, what do you want?’ Jesse stammered.

‘You, to come with us,’ the other man simply spoke.

‘Why?’ Jesse walked back on unsteady feet.

‘Are you really in a position to ask us?’ the first man asked, and they were now able to grab Jesse’s left arm and he let out a pained cry from the jolt he felt in his body from the movement.

‘Please, can I at least get dressed, grab my meds?’ Jesse grimaced, knowing he couldn’t fight the two-armed men, even without the injury.

‘I don’t think so,’ the man smirked at the request.

Jesse felt his arm being yanked again almost paralysing him with the pain and he was easily moved in step with the second guy who had hold of him, a gun now trained on him as they headed towards the back door. Jesse felt the cold air as they got closer, wearing only his boxers and a loose-fitting t-shirt, and could feel the panic growing inside him.

‘You take him, you take me.’

Jesse felt himself being stopped abruptly when a gun click was heard behind them, and he was forcibly turned by the two men as they faced Mike.

‘Think carefully about your next move, gentlemen,’ Mike warned.

‘Are we supposed to be afraid old man?’ the first man asked.

‘That depends on your IQ level,’ Mike surmised, as he gestured to his own gun that he pointed at them.

‘We already have your boy at gun point, old man,’ the man argued, jostling Jesse who grimaced in pain at the sudden movement.

‘That you do, but you are not going to get very far without your car battery, now are you?’ Mike stated as he hauled the battery from the hallway into the kitchen.

‘What?’ the goon asked confused.

‘You need a car to take the kid away I presume?’ Mike offered. 

‘If you don’t put that back in my car, I’ll shoot the kid right here, right now,’ the goon warned.

‘If you wanted him dead, he’d be dead already,’ Mike countered calmly. ‘I don’t think you want any more holes in him.’

Jesse was desperately trying to keep calm, but the barrel to his head was a constant reminder of his predicament. His mind continued to flashback to the moment the bullet hit him just a few night ago, the searing pain, the shock, and he felt his breathing quicken.

‘Jose, get the battery,’ the goon ordered, and the second guy stepped forward only for Mike to put his hand on the battery.

‘Let the kid go,’ Mike instructed, flashing the gun. ‘Then you take the battery.’

Jesse was pushed roughly forward, and he stumbled to the floor with a yelp of pain. ‘This isn’t over old man, we will get him sooner or later,’ the goon warned as Jose grabbed the battery from Mike and they quickly left the house.

Mike went quickly to Jesses side, he was clutching his shoulder and doubled up in pain. ‘Hey kid, come on sit up,’ he encouraged and assisted him as he struggled to move.

‘What the hell was that, yo, what’s going on?’ Jesse asked through gritted teeth.

‘What were you doing checking it out on your own?’ Mike asked. ‘I saw your blanket in the living room, you were there first correct?’

‘I thought I was imagining the noise,’ Jesse simply said. ‘I couldn’t sleep, I’d only just come down when I first heard the noise.’

‘Well you gave me the distraction to go and get the battery, but I would have preferred to have just incapacitated them on my own terms before getting you involved,’ Mike remarked. ‘How’s the pain?’

‘I took my pain meds before coming down, they should be kicking in,’ Jesse grimaced, as he let Mike help him to his feet. ‘My nerves are shot though, sorry if I froze a bit.’

‘I think in the circumstances I can forgive you that,’ Mike remarked. ‘Let’s get you back to bed, and I’ll fix the back door, so we are secure again.’

* * *

Mike glanced out the window, having just got Jesse back in bed again thankful that the wound did not appear to be bleeding at least. He glanced towards the goon’s car and could see they were still attempting to refit the battery; it had been over twenty minutes causing Mike to shake his head, he headed towards the exit.

‘Can I help you ladies?’ he wryly asked.

‘Funny old man,’ the mouthy goon returned, a warning glance from Mike stopped him reaching for his gun.

‘Move aside,’ Mike commanded and after a few deft touches he connected the battery with ease. ‘Start her up,’ he instructed, and the car came to life. ‘Who are you working for?’

‘None of your business,’ the goon returned, heading back to the car.

‘It is when you break into the house of Jesse Pinkman, and attempt to take him someplace else,’ Mike stated.

‘What’s it to you? Who is this kid that he has security with him twenty-four seven? Is he famous?’

‘Infamous maybe, but not famous no, he just has protection, understood? Keep away from Jesse Pinkman, that’s all you need to know, ok?’ Mike warned.

‘Third time lucky, old man, it’ll be third time lucky for us,’ the goon simply remarked as the car screeched into the night and away from the house.

Mike stood on the side and narrowed his eyes, if that was the second attempt, the first attempt must have been by Grant and if it was Grant, then Mike began to fear he’d made a grave error in judgement when he let him go so easily.

* * *

Gustavo Fring was in deep thought opposite Mike, sat in his office at the back of the restaurant. Mike had just informed him about the attempts on Jesse Pinkman, and it did not make any sense to either of the men.

‘It’s not the cartel,’ Mike confirmed.

‘Jesse has come to the attention of an unknown faction,’ Gus considered. ‘Why?’

‘Still working on that one,’ Mike admitted.

‘If we are to believe that the first attempt was this Grant person, that he tried to seduce Pinkman but then shot him? I’m failing to see the strategy there,’ Gus considered.

‘I think the actual shooting was an accident,’ Mike informed him. ‘The first guy was trying to win him over, seduce him if you will and the second attempt was just to take him by force,’ Mike finished.

‘I don’t like this interest in Pinkman,’ Gus stated firmly. ‘I want a man with him at all times, primarily he’s your concern Mike until we are sure this unhealthy interest in him has ended. You need to find out who these people are, who is trying to get his attention and why.’

‘A new player in town?’ Mike offered.

‘No, I would have heard about them already,’ Gus said confidently. ‘Their methods are sloppy, not professional, and almost desperate.’

‘Ok,’ Mike gave Gus’s appraisal some thought. ‘I will focus my efforts in finding Grant, I believe he could hold the answers, and it shouldn’t be too difficult.’

‘Very good, and Mike I need Pinkman back in the lab to help Walt as soon as possible, the yield needs to go back up to expected levels,’ Gus stated.

‘The kid had a set-back last night with the attempt to snatch him, but he is healing well, I expect he will be back soon enough but Tyrus will need to be on hand to do the heavy lifting for a while yet,’ Mike confirmed and got to his feet. ‘Is there anything else?’

‘No,’ Gus agreed. ‘And let Pinkman know that he is important to us, he will remain protected. When he is fully fit again, I would like him to be considered for some extra work within the organisation.’

Mike looked at Gus with surprise that he couldn’t hide. ‘Have I missed a memo?’

Gus looked amused by Mike’s reaction. ‘Let’s just say I’m seeing potential, something I would like to explore further.’

Mike just nodded his head and left the room, amused that the moment Pinkman is wanted by some other faction, Gus suddenly starts to see Pinkman in a different light. Mike walked towards his car when he heard his phone buzz, taking it out of his pocket he checked the caller and answered.

‘Jesse,’ Mike answered. ‘Everything ok?’

‘I don’t know,’ Jesse’s voice sounded stressed.

‘What’s up?’

‘I can’t move, man.’

‘What do you mean?’ Mike asked confused.

‘I just woke up and I can’t move my right side, it hurts, and my arm and hand are numb,’ Jesse panicked. ‘Your guy here is just staring at me, told me to call you.’

‘I’ll be right over,’ Mike stated and ended the call, he dialled another number. ‘We need your best doctor at the Pinkman residence asap.’

* * *

‘What are you play at son?’ The question was angrily asked by a sharp suited older man, sitting in a plush modern looking high-rise office, belonging to Del Burley, Grant’s father.

Grant sighed and looked from his enraged father to his two men. ‘It was supposed to be an easy snatch and grab.’

‘That old man took the battery out of my car!’

‘Ben, why didn’t you ask him for the keys to his car?’ Grant demanded.

Ben looked at Jose and back to Grant. ‘I didn’t want to leave my car behind, who knows what that crazy old man would have done.’

‘I say just forget this junkie, he’s too hot,’ Del spoke with anger. ‘I can’t risk your silly little side projects interfering with my business, do you understand?’

‘There are no other targets I want to try, father, I can do this just give me another chance, I can be that man that you want me to be,’ Grant stated. ‘Just one more chance, ok?’

‘OK, what’s your idea for the next attempt Einstein?’ Del sneered. ‘And don’t think I don’t know why you are pursuing this young man, Grant, it’s not just to prove yourself or for the money is it?’

Grant glared at his father. ‘You told me to always get what I want, and I will with the added bonus that he’s loaded.’

‘Look, I don’t really care how you get your kicks, son, I’ve played the field as you well know,’ Del suggested. ‘But just don’t mess this up, you have one more attempt and if you fail you are going back to live with your mother, and we will hear no more about it, understand?’ Del Burley demanded.

Grant looked resigned to the declaration. ‘I won’t fail again.’

* * *

Walter White wiped his brow and removed the hazmat suit, he glanced at Tyrus as he finished off the weighing and he was reminded once again that it was a job normally done by Jesse. He needed to catch up with Jesse, make sure he was on track to return to where he belonged, so once he was dressed, Walt took his phone and dialled Jesse’s number.

‘Walt, this is Mike.’

‘I was calling Jesse, why are you answering his phone?’ Walt questioned with suspicion.

‘He’s indisposed at the moment, there was an incident at his house,’ Mike sighed.

‘An incident?’

‘There was an attempt to take Jesse by force last night,’ Mike informed him. ‘He’s just with the doctor now, seems he’s had a delayed reaction to it.’

‘Is he ok?’ Walt asked concerned.

‘He’s had a set-back in his recovery,’ Mike revealed. ‘We’re just having him checked now to see how bad.’

‘I’m going to stop by,’ Walt stated and expected objections but was surprised by Mike’s response.

‘I think that would be good, Jesse isn’t in a good place right now.’

Walt finished the call, no longer wondering about Gus or his own safely, what Skyler or Hank might know, his only concerns were for Jesse.

* * *

‘My honest opinion?’ the doctor spoke softly outside the bedroom to Mike. ‘We need to get him to a hospital and get a scan done, I can’t tell what damage has been caused to the shoulder without one and it needs to be done asap, any delay could make the numbness in his hand permanent.’

Mike took a deep breath. ‘OK, how do we do that?’

‘I have friends at the hospital, I could maybe ask a favour if we suggest the kid is army personnel, can you get papers done that quick or something to flash at them as proof?’ The doctor asked.

‘I’ll see what I can do,’ Mike simply answered, and took out his phone.

‘Mike,’ Walt spoke as he got to the top of the stairs, glancing at the other man briefly before turning back to Mike. ‘How is he?’

‘Go through, we’re just sorting out transport to the hospital, he needs a scan,’ Mike answered and dialled a number.

Walt didn’t hesitate and moved into Jesse’s bedroom, finding him alone but looking wide-eyed in his bed, clearly stressed.

‘Hey, Jesse,’ Walt greeted.

‘Mr White,’ Jesse called out, but he was stock still. ‘I can’t feel my arm, Mr White, it’s bad, last night these men tried to take me some place, yo,’ he was breathing quickly.

‘Hey,’ Walt knelt down by Jesses bed. ‘Calm down, you’re safe and you have the best people looking after you, ok?’ he soothed.

‘It hurts, man, the drugs aren’t working,’ Jesse continued to panic as If not hearing anything Walt had told him moments earlier.

‘Jesse, Jesse,’ Walt spoke solidly until Jesse finally looked at him. ‘Take some deep breaths and just relax, panicking is not helping matters, trust me.’

Jesse did as Walt asked, and noticeably relaxed. He concentrated on his breathing and took a moment before speaking more calmly. ‘Why are these people trying to take me, Mike knows something but he’s not telling me.’

‘Probably for the best, let Mike worry about whatever that is, you just need to focus on getting better,’ Walt reminded him. ‘Seriously, Jesse, I need you back in the lab, the cooks are not the same without you.’

Jesse threw Walt a quizzical look. ‘You’re missing me?’

Walt rolled his eyes. ‘Why does that surprise you?’

Jesse started laughing. ‘Wow, whatever drugs I’m on must be pretty special cos these hallucinations are sweet, yo,’ he smirked.

‘Very funny,’ Walt returned and then cracked a smile himself.

Neither noticed Mike watching them both. ‘We have to move, Walt can you help Jesse down to the car?’

‘Sure,’ Walt agreed, snapping into a mode normally reserved for his son, Junior, as he helped Jesse put on some jogging bottoms and sneakers, and then with a bit of adjustment he took some of Jesse’s weight and walked with him down to the waiting car.

* * *

Walt was lost in a series of text messages with Skyler making excuses for not being home, when he saw Mike approaching the side room at the hospital. He stood up, putting his phone away and tried not to look like he had been sat there for nearly 30 minutes instead of staying with Jesse. 

‘How’s the kid?’ Mike asked.

‘Just waiting for results,’ Walt replied. ‘So, do you care to fill me in on some blanks?’

Mike glared at Walt and sighed tiredly. ‘Two goons showed up in the early hours, Jesse for reasons I still don’t know went to confront them giving me time to mess with their car, and ruin their escape, and I got back before they took Jesse from the house.’

‘So, you were at Jesse’s house? You were staying there?’ Walt checked. ‘And Jesse still got hurt?’

‘We hadn’t fully appreciated the threat level,’ Mike responded. ‘But I’m glad I did stay close, rather than just let Jesse have a private life that I don’t get involved in,’ Mike stated accusingly. ‘Two times that instinct has paid off now, Walter, wouldn’t you agree?’

Walter took a deep breath to calm down the sudden anger to Mikes jibe. ‘Ok, so what is this threat, and why do they want Jesse?’

‘I believe it’s linked to Grant, so I’ve been running some additional checks,’ Mike frowned. ‘Turns out he’s the recently discovered long lost son of Derick ‘Del’ Burley, he had no record because for most of his life he’s gone by the name Grant Thompson, taking his mother’s maiden name before he discovered who his dad was, he’s still not officially a Burley, but as Thompson he has a long list of GBH and assault charges, a very angry young man by all accounts, drug problems and petty crimes,’ Mike sighed.

‘Still doesn’t explain his interest in Jesse,’ Walt stated.

‘Before last nights attempt, I was happy to put it down to some junkie lust that got out of hand, but now, and being linked to Del Burley, it’s hard to know,’ Mike offered. ‘Whilst Del Burley is a hugely successful businessman, links to all and sundry, there’s always been rumours he has fingers in more dubious activities, in fact Grant’s father had quite the playboy reputation until only a couple of years ago when he finally settled down with his current wife,’ Mike then waved an envelope at Walt. ‘Hoping Jesse might be able to add some more insight as to motive or links, is he awake?’

‘He was yeah,’ Walt waved towards the room.

They both entered the room where Jesse was sleeping, but their entry caused him to open his eyes and glance at them. ‘Any news?’ he asked.

‘Not yet,’ Walt answered. ‘But Mike has some questions.’

‘Hey kid,’ Mike greeted and pulled out some photos from the envelope he held. ‘Take a look at these photos and tell me if you recognise anyone in them.’

Jesse blinked his eyes and held the photos up so he could properly look. He didn’t recognise the property, or the party they were depicting. ‘Sorry, man, I wasn’t at this party, I don’t recognise anything about it.’

‘Look at the faces, Jesse,’ Mike suggested. ‘Do you recognise any of these people pictured?’

Jesse took another look at the five photos, scanning them a second time and then his eyes fell on a young couple. They were dressed smartly; this was a high-class party for sure. ‘Hang on,’ Jesse squinted at the image slightly. ‘These two, I mean they are dressed really smart but I’m sure I’ve seen these two before,’ he offered.

Mike stepped closer and saw Jesse was looking at young couple to the edge of the photo, they were both sat close by a pool, she was in a sleek cocktail dress and the male was in a sharp tuxedo. ‘Are you sure?’

‘You saw them too,’ Jesse threw the picture down. ‘They were both naked either side of me the other day when you got me out of bed.’

Mike frowned and looked again. ‘You positive its them? To be fair I only got to see certain parts of them not on show in this picture.’

Jesse rolled his eyes and he rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand. ‘They were making out in my living room for most of that night, looking like the lovesick puppies they look like in this picture, and I dunno they provided a free show, yo,’ Jesse explained. ‘A show you don’t forget that quick.’

‘A show you decided to join?’ Walt asked amused.

Jesse just glared at Mr White. ‘It wasn’t like that; I mean not exactly like that.’

‘I’m not sure I’d agree,’ Mike remarked.

‘What is this, you suddenly my two dads?’ Jesse snapped. ‘They wanted more blow, yo, and they thought they had to pay for it, so when I offered it, they started stressing they had no money and before I knew it they were all over me and things escalated I guess,’ Jesse shrugged.

‘I don’t know what alarms me more, the fact you went along with any of that or the fact you actually remember it, and recount it like it’s a normal thing that happened,’ Walt questioned.

‘I seemed to remember you had a severe case of forgetfulness when I brought it up the next day,’ Mike calmly added.

Jesse rubbed his face again. ‘It always comes back to me, eventually,’ Jesse sighed. ‘Call it my superpower.’

‘So, what does this mean, that he’s recognised those two people?’ Walt asked Mike.

‘It means I have a fresh lead, these pictures were taken from Grant’s social media pages, a recent party at his father’s mansion,’ Mike stated.

‘So, they know Grant?’ Jesse checked.

‘It would seem so,’ Mike agreed. ‘We might have now worked out how you came to Grant’s attention, and possibly someone else’s by default.’

‘Excuse me,’ two hospital porters entered the room. ‘We just have to take this patient to X-Ray.’

‘I thought all the tests had been done?’ Walt checked.

‘Just following orders,’ the orderly offered, flashing a clipboard with an X-Ray request form, as they unlocked the bed and manoeuvred it towards the exit. Walt grabbed hold of the clipboard and saw Jesse’s name and the doctor’s name so waved them on.

‘Must be double checking something,’ Walt considered.

‘We won’t be long, ten minutes tops, X-Ray isn’t far from here,’ the orderly smiled as they left the room.

Mike took his time to put the photos back into the envelope before narrowing his eyes for a moment. ‘What name was on that form?’

‘What?’ Walt asked.

‘The name on that X-Ray form,’ Mike asked again.

‘Jesse Pinkman,’ Walt dismissed Mike’s concern.

‘He was not admitted under that name, his alias is Private Jenkins,’ Mike was already moving with speed in the direction they had taken Jesse, and Walt scurried behind only realising his error as he left the room.

They hurried towards the exit and Walt was about to protest that they needed to check X-Ray before common sense reminded him how unlikely that would be. As they got to the main entrance Mike spotted it first, and then Walter, a few staff members had already found it. An empty hospital bed randomly left outside the hospital exit, the IV left hanging no longer connected.

‘Did anyone see anything?’ Mike called out to the people around them, but all wore blank expressions.

‘They just took the dude right off the bed and put him in a back of car, didn’t get plates, it happened so fast,’ an elderly man recounted.

Both Walt and Mike glanced at each other, lost for words. Almost not believing what had just happened, right under their noses. Walt stepped forward, desperately searching the area not sure what he was hoping to find. ‘We have to find him.’

‘We will,’ Mike snarled.

* * *

‘It was so sweet,’ the young man enthused to his gathered audience.

‘Tell me again Ricky, how did you manage what men with three times your experience failed so spectacularly at?’ the elder man asked, knowing his son, Grant was glaring at him.

‘We followed that old guy, Uncle Del,’ he smiled fondly at his relative. ‘Followed him from the targets house, kept our distance because the tracking device was doing its job,’ Ricky enthused. ‘Followed him right to the hospital and we figured after last night the target must also be there, having recently been shot and then getting roughed up by Jose and Benny, so it made sense,’ Ricky energetically explained. ‘And there he was, so we slip into some orderly gowns, lifted a request form, filled it in with what we knew and bingo, they just let us take him right out of there.’

‘Genius!’ Del exploded with mirth then turned to his son, Grant. ‘OK you let him stew in a room for a couple of hours and then he’s all yours, get the money and whatever else you want from him if you must, but hear me on this, we need him gone in twenty-four hours, understand? The kid is too hot to keep here, we can’t keep him for longer, he needs to be dealt with, he needs to disappear.’

Grant looked at his father with understanding. ‘I will take care of him; I will get the money I need from him and have my fun at his expense, I can do this, just trust me.’

‘Your future involvement in the family business is relying on this, son, your reputation is in your hands, don’t even think about messing this up, Grant, your still on your final warning son, final warning.’

Grant stared at his father, and then left the room.

TBC


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse can't defend himself and Grant knows exactly what he wants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter goes to a very dark place - additional Non/Con advisary for this one.

Mike walked slowly back to the car and got in, he got himself settled and then glanced at Walter White sat in the passenger seat.

‘Did you find out Jesse's test results?’ Walt asked.

‘First, we have to get out of here, they are looking for you,’ Mike explained and started the car.

‘Me?’ Walt checked.

‘They have a patient who has gone AWOL, literally, because he is considered to be army, and the last known person by his side was you, they are adding two and two together and getting god knows what in return, so let’s get out of here before you are spotted,’ Mike focused and pulled the car out of the parking lot. ‘I’ve wiped all security tapes, so they’ll get bored soon enough.’

Once they were a safe distance with no issues, Walt looked at Mike. ‘Did you manage to find out anything about Jesse’s condition?’

‘I wasn’t able to get the full consultation but the gist of what I could find out from the paperwork is that Jesse’s shoulder, the chipped bone the bullet damaged has further fractured after the altercation, and it’s potentially caused nerve damage, which is why there is loss of feeling,’ Mike explained. ‘At this time, it’s not considered too serious, it can be fixed with a simple and quick operation but needs to be done sooner rather than later.’

‘And now he’s missing,’ Walt sighed. ‘Can you swing me by Jesse’s place, I need to get my car, I doubt Gus will want me falling behind on yields so let me focus on that, if you can just promise me you will find Jesse and bring him back safely.’

‘You have my promise,’ Mike simply said, and he glanced at Walt. ‘I finally saw it earlier, by the way,’ he remarked.

‘Saw what?’ Walt asked confused.

‘Ever since I’ve met the pair of you, I could never quite work your relationship out, but I saw you somehow calmed him down when he was being nothing but hysterical about his arm earlier,’ Mike remembered. ‘It’s messed up, but I think you give him reassurance of some kind. He believes things will be ok if you are involved, you are his trusted authority,’ Mike stated, as if to try and convince himself of his own words. ‘The kid is bat shit crazy but if that’s what he needs to help him in crisis, then so be it,’ Mike shrugged.

Walt smiled slightly at the observation. ‘We’ve got through some things in our short time together, things we had no right surviving, so I think you may be right,’ Walt considered. ‘And he met me first as his teacher, and I did try to help him as a teen. If you think he is a nightmare now, you really should have seen his teenage angst phase,’ Walt frowned at the memories.

Mike found himself smirking at the idea. ‘I’m guessing he’s really going to need you once we find him, so keep your phone on and be ready to go when I call,’ Mike stated as he pulled over by Walter’s car outside Jesse’s house.

‘Keep me posted,’ Walter returned and quickly exited the car to get into his own.

* * *

Grant opened the door, taking a deep breath as he did so. Slowly he walked inside and saw the man sitting in the corner, leaning against the wall as if trying to hide, making himself as small as possible with his legs drawn up to his chest.

‘It’s good to see you,’ Grant spoke up, as he crossed the short distance towards Pinkman, who just glared at him. ‘I never got the chance to apologise, for that,’ he gestured to the shoulder he saw Pinkman holding. Jesse Pinkman was still dressed in a hospital gown, with some black jogging bottoms, his feet were bare.

‘What do you want?’ Jesse asked, taking measured breaths against the pain he was in and the fear he could not hide.

‘You,’ Grant simply said and watched as Jesse scoffed at the answer. ‘Look, I’m not the bad guy.’

‘Yeah, you’re the good guy, got it, yo,’ Jesse mocked.

‘You fascinate me,’ Grant admitted, crouching close to Jesse. ‘What is your story?’

‘Not in the mood to talk, kind of in pain right now,’ Jesse spoke through clenched teeth, rubbing his shoulder.

‘Let me take a look,’ Grant offered.

Jesse just glared at him. ‘You’re joking right?’ Grant reached out and tried to touch Jesse, but he shirked away. ‘Get off me!’ he yelled and then grimaced as the pain of movement cursed through him.

‘Hey!’ Grant raised his voice, getting Jesse’s attention. ‘You are my guest, and you will respect me.’

‘Respect you?’ Jesse checked with shock. ‘Last time I saw you, you forced yourself on me and then shot me in my own house, why the hell should I let you anywhere near me?’

‘What makes you think you have a choice?’ Grant simply smiled.

Jesse tried to hide the continued growing fear building inside him. ‘What do you really want?’

‘I already told you, but there is something else,’ Grant considered. ‘I need $500,000 in cash, in the next three days,’ he stated.

‘Half a million, in cash?’ Jesse checked showing no reaction to the amount.

‘Before Friday,’ Grant added.

‘Before Friday?’ Jesse repeated. ‘Why?’

‘To help with my cashflow,’ Grant answered. ‘Without it, well, things would be bad.’

‘Define bad,’ Jesse asked.

Grant considered his response. ‘I have a lot riding on it, if I don’t get it my life is over.’

‘So, is that why I’m really here? why you’ve been pursuing me?’ Jesse asked with anger. ‘You just need cash? What? You saw me as an easy mark, thought I would have that sort of money lying around? When your advances went wrong, you thought you’d just take me and demand half a million?’

‘I’m desperate, you got me,’ Grant mocked surrendered. ‘Oh, and it just so happens that I think you’re super-hot as well,’ Grant added with a smirk. ‘I thought this could be fun as well.’

‘Fun?’ Jesse looked at him with disgust, then focused on the floor in front of him. ‘So, I give you half a million, then what?’

‘I will have got what I wanted,’ Grant suggested.

‘And you would set me free?’ Jesse asked.

‘Well, not exactly.’

‘What does that mean?’ Jesse turned back to Grant.

‘You give me the money I need, and then you and me, we have some fun as a reward,’ Grant explained.

‘And what if I don’t want to have fun?’ Jesse checked.

‘Then you become surplus to my requirements,’ Grant warned.

Jesse checked Grant’s expressions for any glimmer of a joke, but he looked deadly serious. ‘So, I either become your best friend forever or you’ll kill me, once I give you the money.’

‘I knew you were smart,’ Grant enthused and moved closer to Jesse, who naturally shirked further away into the wall. ‘How shall we play this?’

Jesse rolled his eyes, the whole situation was just ridiculous, but he knew he had to take it seriously, remembering they had successfully snatched him from under the noses of Mike and Mr White.

‘I can get you the money,’ Jesse stated. ‘But seriously, do you know anything of who I am, what I’m a part of?’

‘I know you’re hot, I know you’re rich and the fact you can just get that money only proves it,’ Grant smiled with excitement. ‘I also know that you can pay for your own private army.’

‘What army?’ Jesse mocked, unable to stop laughing out loud. ‘They are not my army, yo,’ he stated. ‘They are my employers protecting one of their assets, I belong to them, I work for them and they are not going to take my disappearance very well, do you even know what that means?’

Grant narrowed his eyes with confusion. ‘You belong to them?’

Jesse sighed with frustration. ‘Yeah, kind of, maybe, look you say you are not a bad man, but you never considered that maybe I am?’ he stated firmly.

‘You? A bad man?’ Grant asked, looking amused. ‘You’re a criminal, hey, that’s cool with me, is that what you mean?’

‘I work for some messed up dudes, in a dangerous world and ok, you have your own people who likely do shady stuff but you are not even on our radar and I doubt you’re even in the same league, so I’ll get you the money but just let me go back and I’ll make sure you don’t get any kickback from this, and you can remain whatever it is in your own world,’ Jesse reasoned.

‘We run the whole east side from New York, we have businesses in every state, and we have government officials, the high ups, asking us what we want,’ Grant revealed with arrogance. ‘What the hell do you have, to even consider that for one moment we are not on the same level?’

Jesse took a moment to let that information sink in before commenting. ‘Access to half a million dollars without having to even think about it for one,’ Jesse suggested pointedly. 

Grant bristled at the response and moved quick to close the gap between him and Jesse, ensuring there was no escape from his attentions this time. ‘You got me on that,’ Grant whispered into Jesse’s ear, sensing him flinch. ‘But I have you now, so I win. Now, let me take a look,’ he repeated slowly, with threat and a sneer.

Jesse shuffled slightly, and Grant was waiting expectantly, freaking Jesse out. ‘Just let me get the money,’ Jesse pleaded attempted to lean away from Grant, the pain in his shoulder escalating.

‘I think you need to relax first, Jesse,’ Grant suggested and took a small packet out of his pocket. ‘Let me prepare you something to help.’

‘You have the blue crystal,’ Jesse noticed, the irony not lost on him.

‘It’s so pure, you introduced it to me, had to get my own supply,’ Grant grinned, finding a tray nearby enabling him to cut some lines.

Jesse rubbed his face with his left hand, feeling trapped against the wall, he tried to think of a way to manage this situation but was failing. The lure of taking a hit was tempting, even though he was hearing Mike’s disapproving voice in his head to not do it, but his stress was rising. The line was offered and after only a couple of seconds hesitation Jesse put his left hand to his nose and inhaled, the instant relief was welcomed as he took a deep breath and rested his head against the wall.

‘There you go,’ Grant encouraged, and then took a hit of his own. Jesse was enjoying the euphoria before he became aware of Grant’s close attention, lightly kissing his neckline. ‘Take this off,’ Grant whispered nudging the hospital gown.

‘I’m really not into this right now,’ Jesse stressed. ‘My shoulder, I just can’t do this.’

Grant lifted his head, and then untied the gown himself with little objection from Jesse who was still numbly enjoying the effects of the hit. He gently encouraged Jesse to straighten his legs, and then rest his back fully against the wall. ‘Does it hurt?’ Grant asked softly his hand brushing over his bandage, and Jesse just nodded his head, bringing his left hand up once again. Grant removed Jesse’s left hand without word, taking a close look at the dressing. Without warning he began to remove the dressing.

‘What are you doing?’ Jesse asked tiredly, the effects of the hit making him more lethargic.

Grant didn’t answer and completely removed the bandage, he seemed fascinated by the healing wounds, both from the bullet entry and the subsequent operation.

‘Looks painful,’ Grant finally commented, fingers lightly brushing the damage.

‘You think?’ Jesse sneered, not appreciating the attention.

‘It’s bleeding,’ Grant noted, and to Jesse’s horror he began lightly touching his injured shoulder with more force. ‘Do you have supplies to look after this?’

‘At home, I think,’ Jesse closed his eyes tightly. ‘Along with my pain medication.’

‘I’ll see if we can get some things for you,’ Grant considered.

‘How about you just let me go home, let me sort out your money and then let me recover from the gunshot you put in me in, yo,’ Jesse demanded sleepily.

Grant rubbed his eyes, taking a deep breath before speaking. ‘And have that old guy take me out with a bullet between my eyes?’

Jesse showed a flash of annoyance. ‘I’ll call him off, they just want me where they need me, ok? Keeping me here is just making things worse, not better!’

‘Of course, you’d say that,’ Grant dismissed.

‘You don’t know who you are dealing with, yo,’ Jesse stated with tired desperation. ‘Believe it or not I’m trying to help you, like actually help you, man.’

‘Who are you?’ Grant said once again with wonder. ‘Why are you so important to these people, you’re just a kid, albeit a cute one, is that their interest? Do we share the same interest in you?’

‘Fuck off, I work for them, I’m not a play-thing,’ Jesse snapped, his eyes felt heavy.

Grant just smirked. ‘Consider this a career change then.’

Jesse was close to just giving up and letting this idiot face the consequences of his actions, but he feared what he would have to endure by taking that option. He was hurting, seemingly bleeding and this knucklehead was already too touchy feely for his liking.

‘Let me call someone, they can go round to my house pick up the money, pick up the supplies and put them in a safe place for your guys to collect, how does that sound?’ Jesse suggested, now desperately trying to stay awake and aware of his current situation.

‘That old guy would follow him,’ Grant dismissed immediately.

‘Let me call that old guy then, let us just cut to the chase, and I’ll reason with him,’ Jesse considered.

Grant seemed to take an interest in that option. ‘You’d tell him to back off, to let you be?’

‘We can work something out if you just cut me some slack,’ Jesse offered. ‘You need money, I make plenty, you like the crystal maybe I can get you some of that for a good price,’ Jesse took a needed breath, the tiredness threatening him. ‘You, you want me, so I don’t know, once I’m feeling better maybe we can hang out,’ Jesse continued sensing he had Grant’s attention which was some sort of progress at least.

Grant put a hand to the side of Jesse’s face, an affectionate touch that brushed back into his hair and Jesse didn’t flinch this time, letting it happen, wanting to get Grant onside. ‘I’ll think about it, but you know, I already have you,’ he finally responded in a whisper, and leaned in once again this time with more force as he brushed Jesse’s lips. 

Jesse closed his eyes, and sensing he had no choice but to accept the kiss as Grant explored his mouth with pleasure. Jesse felt Grant move him from resting against the wall to lying down on the ground, he groaned in pain with the action, but Grant ignored it as he continued his assault. Jesse brought up his left hand to try and prevent Grant getting too physical, his right arm still useless but Grant wasn’t taking the hint as he grabbed Jesses left wrist and held it above his head, rendering him incapacitated as Grant lay beside him on the floor.

‘Grant stop,’ Jesse pleaded one last time, not enjoying the sensations or the pain he was feeling. Grant was now kissing his chest, teasing both nipples. ‘Please, this is hurting my shoulder, it’s killing me,’ he said with more strength, now desperate for things to stop. 

Grant stopped and seemed to take stock of Jesse’s predicament, then looked confused. ‘Why aren’t you pushing me away if you don’t want this?’

‘I was trying, but you grabbed my hand,’ Jesse hissed.

‘What about the other one?’

‘I can’t feel the other one, let alone use it, bad shoulder, remember?’ Jesse responded, taking some deep breaths to fight the fresh waves of pain.

Grant took a moment to look at the immobile arm. ‘You can’t move it at all?’

‘That’s why I was at the hospital today, it must have happened last night in the exchange with your men who came to my house. I woke up and the arm was just not responding, it was numb,’ Jesse explained, his head rolling.

Grant sat back and seemed to be considering the situation, freeing Jesse’s working arm to once again, hold his shoulder. ‘That sounds serious,’ Grant motioned.

‘I don’t know if it is or not, I was waiting for the results when you took me,’ Jesse admitted with gritted teeth. ‘Please just let me call the old guy, let me work something out, I’m begging now.’ All of the emotions, pains and fears of the past forty-eight hours caught up with Jesse as he began to feel himself break down, it was all too much and being man-handled into the bargain was breaking him.

Grant saw the man he was infatuated with crumble before his eyes and wanted to instinctively hold him, reassure him but something about his injury was hitting home the most, he had done this to him, he’d caused this pain and against his better judgement he handed Jesse his phone. ‘Call the old man, but Jesse, if you’re messing with me, if you have some bigger plan that hurts me, or hurts my family you have to understand I will have to kill you.’

Jesse stared at Grant and saw the ice cold behind his eyes, and he didn’t doubt it for a second. ‘I know, you’ve already demonstrated to me that you can easily reach me, get to me, despite my private army,’ Jesse stated in return. ‘But also understand that I’m not in charge, I have no control over those I work for, so we will have to work together.’

‘Together?’ Grant seemed quite taken by that suggestion.

‘Yeah, together,’ Jessie confirmed. ‘You let me sort out the money, and my health now and then I promise once I’m better we will hang out.’

‘I’m not some teenage girl, dammit,’ Grant responded sharply, and snatched the phone out of Jesse’s hand with anger. ‘That’s not how this is going to play out, you seem to forget you are here right now, this is not about hanging out and being a friend.’

‘I don’t understand, what do you want then?’ Jesse checked, suddenly nervous of the answer.

‘To own you,’ Grant calmly explained pushing himself up by Jesse’s side, his larger frame looming over him with menace. 

Jesse nervously laughed at the reply. ‘Own me?’ he double checked. ‘Dude, that’s not going to happen, that can’t happen.’

‘You will move into this house with me, you will do what I want to do,’ Grant continued. ‘I will let you recuperate, and seeing as you make good money will allow you to still work but I can’t just let you be the whore you are, you need to be mine, understand?’

‘Whore?’ Jesse scoffed.

‘Those parties at your house have to end, you need to be at my parties now, and I will decide what you can and can’t do,’ Grant stated with a sickly smile.

Jesse didn’t know whether to quite believe what Grant was proposing. ‘Do I get any say in this?’

‘You don’t want to be with me?’ Grant asked, as if it was a ridiculous thought.

‘I don’t know you,’ Jesse answered with honesty. ‘Seriously, what the actual fuck, yo?’

Grant looked at Jesse, still lying on the ground in front of him and he stroked a hand across his chest, it moved downwards until he cupped Jesse’s bulge through his joggers. Jesse closed his eyes to the sensations he was feeling, he tried using his legs to push Grant off, but Grant responded quickly and straddled both Jesse’s thighs putting his full weight on them, keeping him down. Jesse was too far away from where Grant was now positioned for his left hand to be of any use. Unable to sit up or move his upper body due to the injured shoulder Jesse realised he couldn’t stop what Grant was doing.

The assault continued, as Grant slowly pulled down the waistband of Jesse's joggers and the semi-erect cock revealed itself to his hungry eyes. Without word Grant seemed to forget he was even there as he started to manipulate Jesse's cock, pumping the shaft using a mixture of his own spit and pre-cum to slick it up.

Jesse looked back and away from what Grant was doing, focusing on the other side of the room unable to watch what was happening in front of him, bringing his left hand up to cover his eyes, as Grant got into a rhythm on his dick. He gritted his teeth with a hiss, then released fresh cry of new pain when he felt a finger clumsily prodding against his hole, the barely slicked up as a finger suddenly entered painfully, and Jesse scrunched up his face before screaming out. The pain of his shoulder suddenly fading as new pains overtook him, he felt a second finger enter and begin stretching him causing another cry of pain to come out that he couldn’t control. The tears were falling freely now from his eyes, Jesse didn’t remember when they started but he took a deep breath when he felt a cockhead pushing inwards.

‘No, no, no,’ Jesse repeated, he had never wanted to be taken like this. It wasn’t the first time he’d done this, but every other time had been consensual, and he had had careful prep, this was something else, too raw and too emotional and the pain was excruciating. Grant was in and he was not holding back, shaking Jesse’s entire body, causing fresh pain that overwhelmed him, seconds into the assault the darkness took him away, and he was finally able to escape the attack as he lost consciousness to the pain.

* * *

Mike put the phone down, having just checked in with his man watching Jesse’s house. Still no sign or word from the kid, nothing and the pit of his stomach twisted once more. There was something about this situation that horrified Mike on levels he didn’t yet understand. Sat at his kitchen table he looked at the file he had on Grant, broken home, succession of step dads, dubious history with alcohol, drugs and many accusations of assaults and attacks, physical and sexual, all sorted out of court by his mother, even in his early twenties he seemed a kept child, a mommies boy, never had a job or any sign of income, it looked like he was now trying his hand at joining his father’s enterprise. It seemed he never wanted for anything, his father a multi-millionaire business owner who had fingers in all the pies, knew all the leading figures, could get an audience with the president if he so wished.

This rich kid had eyes for Jesse, had the audacity to bring a gun to a house party and seemingly managed to downplay his actions that first night enough to convince Mike not to kill him there and then when he interviewed him. If anything, Mike wondered if he had instead set Grant a challenge rather than warned him off as intended. Mike took a gulp from his cooling coffee mug, he was glad he hadn’t killed Grant, he had read enough to know the kid had connections and it would have brought far too much attention to Jesse and ultimately the Albuquerque business operations if he had.

Mike was stumped and he hated being stumped. He had tried to get some leads on the young couple from the photo but they were untouchable, they only ever showed at high end parties, the sort of parties that you only got invited to if you happened to be able to park your supersized yacht outside. This was not the usual circle that Gus or the cartel travelled in, and Mike was aware that this could mean Jesse would be just beyond their reach if they truly intended to keep him. Gus would have to get involved, somehow tread new ground in his networks but Mike already knew whilst Jesse had some importance, he simply was not that important to Gus – Mike would be told to find another way.

Finishing his coffee, Mike was about to move to the living room to finish watching a movie when his phone started ringing. A number he didn’t recognised flashed up and he considered letting it go to answerphone, before deciding his gut was telling him otherwise.

‘Hello?’

‘It’s Jesse.’

Mike hit record on his nearby Dictaphone and held it close to the phone. ‘Jesse, where are you?’

‘I need your help,’ Jesse stammered, and Mike immediately could sense something in Jesse’s voice that concerned him.

‘Are you ok?’

There was a pause, too long a pause. ‘Yeah,’ Jesse simply replied. ‘Look, I need you to trust me, ok?’

‘Trust you?’ Mike checked unsure. ‘I can do that,’ he confirmed sensing it was easier that way.

‘I need $500,000 in cash, from my money, you know where to find that,’ Jesse stated and Mike picked up on how careful Jesse was being, he was mentioning no names, not even his during this call, giving whoever was with him no information.

‘Ok,’ Mike agreed.

‘I then need you to sort out whatever it is I need to fix my shoulder, I need to get better but,’ Jesse paused for a moment, as if either catching his breath or composing his emotions, Mike wasn’t able to properly tell. ‘But you need to back off, you can’t go after Grant or his men, you just have to let it go, let me get better and then allow me to return to them after its all fixed.’

‘Excuse me?’ Mike checked he heard right. ‘We just let these people have you?’

‘Please,’ Jesse pleaded. ‘This is what I want.’

Mike felt Jesse’s pain in those words. ‘OK, so I get the money, come get you, get you fixed up and all better and then just give you back, is that correct?’ Mike surmised. ‘And what about your job?’

‘I will still turn up for my shifts,’ Jesse explained. ‘We will need to work out a pickup and drop off point,’ Jesse added.

‘You’ve really thought this through, must be what you really want,’ Mike said with mocking tones.

‘Please, just trust me,’ Jesse’s voice sounded strained, anguished even and Mike took a deep breath, the kid was terrified or in pain, something was not right.

‘I’ll call this number when I have the money and let you know where to find me,’ Mike confirmed and after a quick thanks from Jesse the line went dead.

Mike took a few moments to consider his thoughts on what had just happened. The kid sounded scared, and clearly was in a lot of pain still. The deal was ridiculous, and Mike already knew Gus would not buy into it, and Walter White would not approve of this new ownership of Jesse. Mike’s anger was rising as he considered things more, who the hell were these people that thought they could just do this to Jesse, force him to make this deal and think no soul, not even Jesse, would oppose it.

Mike rewound the Dictaphone and replied the entire conversation, hearing Jesse’s voice so broken and desperate pained him but he knew he would follow the first part, he wanted Jesse back under their wing that was the priority.

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks you for the comments!! and the Kudos!! more will be posted soon...


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse is close to breaking point with Grant and nothing appears to be what it seems, with secrets and mysteries continuing to grow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again an extra Non/Con warning for this one.

Gus Fring and Walter White sat side by side as Mike switched off the Dictaphone and put it back in his pocket, having just played the phone call with Jesse for the third time to allow them to digest the information. Both men seemed stricken by what they heard, and the more Mike played it the harder he found it to listen to.

‘That is not Jesse, that is something else,’ Walt finally spoke up, his voice nearly cracking with emotion. ‘This is not what he wants, they are forcing this.’

‘Agreed,’ Gus stated. ‘First thing, Mike, I will give you the cash, don’t take it from Jesse’s money,’ he then added. ‘Organise the exchange as soon as possible, get Jesse back.’

‘I can get a meet arranged for this evening,’ Mike confirmed.

‘Will they just let Jesse come back with us, they must know we would have no intention of sending him back,’ Walt checked.

‘It’s possible someone may be with him, my money would be on Grant himself,’ Mike offered. ‘I would also say that Grant is not someone we can easily make disappear, and it’s likely Grant knows this, his father moves in very selective and influential circles.’

‘I saw your notes,’ Gus commented. ‘I would have to agree with you, we do not want to come under his father’s spotlight.’

‘So, if Grant is with him then what are our options?’ Walt asked.

‘Well, we took Grant before and managed to hold him for a few hours, dump him in the desert and I understand his father actually came out himself to pick him up, with no guards of any sort with him,’ Mike surmised. ‘Suggesting that Grant may not be a complete stranger to humiliating his father, or risking his reputation by doing stupid acts, that his father prefers to deal with on his own rather than risk exposure either publicly or amongst his staff.’

‘That sounds like a good place to start,’ Gus caught onto Mike’s chain of thought.

‘How easy is it going to be to get Jesse out of the glare of these people, of Grant himself?’ Walt asked. ‘I mean, do we want to be drawing unwanted attention to our own business.’

Gus turned to Walt. ‘You make a good point, I want you both to realise that the priority is always to protect our business, and anything we do here must serve to keep protecting it. I want Jesse back as much as anyone, I realise his importance to the cook but I have always been very clear about risks or liabilities and if I feel any actions we take creates a situation that is not viable, then I will not approve it and I will deal with the consequences of that.’

Walt and Mike exchanged knowing glances, they understood Gus’s underlying message. Save Jesse at all costs, except at the cost of exposure of the meth business, then he’s not a priority.

* * *

Grant approached Jesse who was still lying on the ground, he held a glass of water in his hand. He put the glass down and then encouraged Jesse to sit up against the wall like before. He reached into his pocket and took out two painkillers, offering them to Jesse. ‘It’s all we have,’ he stated and then watched as Jesse put them both into his mouth then assisted him with some water.

Jesse swallowed both the water and the pills in one swift move, then tried to get comfortable against the wall.

‘I’m sorry about before, I didn’t realise you had passed out,’ Grant then spoke up, as he sat cross legged next to Jesse, but Jesse didn’t respond and instead wore a blank stare. ‘Are we still good?’

Jesse held his shoulder once again, still not responding, seemingly distracted in his own little world.

‘Hey look, we still have a couple of lines, c’mon, let’s not let them go to waste,’ Grant encouraged.

Jesse brought his legs up to his chest and rested his head on his knees, internally the pain was intense, and he was fighting to control his temper. He saw the tray in front of him with the line being offered and it was all he wanted, it would temper the pain and it would give him something real to feel that wasn’t pure agony.

His left hand was shaking as he leaned forward towards the line, and he sensed Grant’s joy by his response to the drug. Jesse inhaled the powered in one clean sweep and took a needed deep breath as it instantly hit his senses. He saw Grant take the final line, and then with no complaint Jesse let Grant sidle up beside him, resting his head on Jesse’s good shoulder and snaking his arm around Jesse’s waist. The warmth it brought him to his bare torso was the most welcomed aspect as Jesse felt himself drifting.

A text message brought them both to their senses momentarily. Grant quickly read it and smiled. ‘Your old man will meet us late tonight, after midnight,’ Grant kissed Jesse’s left arm gently. ‘Let’s see how much he trusts you,’ he murmured and they both just drifted off in a drug filled haze.

* * *

Del Burley was sat at his imposing desk, his sharp suit and immaculate appearance set him apart from the advisors who were huddled around him.

‘Grant will have the money by the end of the week,’ Del announced. ‘He clears his debts and then we cut his allowance to only a third of its current rate, I’m tired of bankrolling him.’

‘Understood sir,’ one of the advisors made notes.

‘I’m trying to get the kid to stand on his own two feet, to be his own man,’ Del stated. ‘I wanted to see if he could demonstrate anything that we could utilise in our business, nurture and give him focus, but what does he do? Finds a rich junkie he fancies who seems to already be mixed up in some crazy private army situation, then what? Brings him back here and I don’t even want to know what he does next,’ Del dismissed with a swipe of his hand. ‘Just make sure whatever his plans are this cannot come back onto me, that junkie needs to be silenced as soon as Grant gets bored.’

‘What do you propose?’ another advisor asked.

‘That junkie loser he has googly eyes for, he just sounds like trouble,’ Del frowned. ‘The people around him have been digging around my affairs, I tried to do likewise but whatever It is he’s messed up in it’s under the radar and I don’t want Grant to get mixed up in that shit, he can’t even be trusted to turn on the charm without accidently shooting the target.’

Another man cleared his throat. ‘What records I could find this guy it seems he has links to the drugs trade, only suspected, never been charged, however. Now he’s 25 nearly 26 and no known income but a nice house in a good neighbourhood, recently purchased in cash, he has no known job and has never paid much in the way of taxes so I think we can assume the worst.’

‘Bottom line I cannot afford for my boy to be seen with this lowlife, be drawn into that life,’ Del stated. ‘I will take the scums money to give Grant something to call his own, but we need to ensure he is removed from Grants life. Mr Franko, can we just kill this junkie, Grant has pretty much started that process, right?’

‘I would strongly advise a no on that,’ Franko offered and passed a sealed envelope to Del who looked confused, before opening it. ‘You really do not want to risk it with this particular junkie, sir.’

Del slowly opened the envelope and looked at the contents, he started to read the details and checked the enclosed photo. ‘This is the junkie?’ Del checked.

‘Yes,’ Franko spoke with care. ‘I felt discretion was needed for this.’

Del glanced at the other men sat around his table, all clueless about what Del was looking at. Del took a deep breath and replaced the contents, before sealing up the envelope. ‘Everyone out, Franko, you stay.’

All the advisors got to their feet without question and shuffled out of the office, leaving Del facing one lone man, Franko.

‘This is a sick joke, right?’ Del finally spoke.

‘I’m afraid not, sir,’ Franko frowned.

‘This is the kid Grant’s lost his shit over? This kid? Of all the junkies he could have fallen for, he chose this particular one?’ Del said with anger. ‘It has to be a set-up; this cannot be a coincidence. What does he want?’

Franko frowned. ‘There is only one way to find out.’

‘Bring him to me, let’s sort this out once and for all,’ Del stated firmly.

* * *

Jesse tried three times to put the black tee shirt on before he figured a way to do it despite his shoulder and dead arm, Grant had found it for him but only after Jesse asked, not wanting to put the stupid hospital gown back on. The pain was still a constant as he sat on the floor, waiting for the time he could leave this place and meet up with Mike. Grant had been called away suddenly, and he seemed annoyed, but Jesse was relieved as he was sure Grant was just about to start another assault and Jesse felt his nerves, tiredness and pain levels couldn’t take much more.

His mind raced with possible strategies to get out of this mess, he needed to be fit and well again before he had a chance to fight Grant off. His current state hindered him, and just seemed to encourage Grant. The man was impossible, and Jesse felt properly trapped in a situation he had no part in creating. Grant had already demonstrated very clearly that he would use force to get what he wanted, and Jesse absently rubbed the bruises still visible on his neck as he remembered that fact. His body shuddered when he considered Grant may prefer him remaining weakened, to keep that control over him, and he shook those thoughts away as simply being his own paranoia. 

He was battling with his emotions, maybe he deserved this after what he did, images of Gale resurfaced and he clenched his eyes shut as the tears once again threatened, he wasn’t sure he could take much more. Jesse rested his head on his knees, taking deep breaths, he had to stay focused and aware.

The door opened and the fear pierced Jesse as he expected to see Grant return but was surprised to see a new person. He was dressed in a suit, slicked back hair and he seemed to be already judging Jesse as he approached. Jesse quickly wiped his face, unsure what was happening.

‘You need to come with me, Mr Burley requests an audience,’ the man motioned.

‘Oh, ok, who’s that?’ Jesse asked unsure.

‘Grant’s father,’ the man simply replied.

Fear wracked Jesse momentarily, as he tried to think what this could be leading to. ‘Er, can you help me up?’ Jesse asked quietly.

Taking a moment to understand the man helped Jesse to his feet, before straightening his suit and walking towards the door. ‘You don’t have any shoes?’ he then asked looking at Jesse’s bare feet.

‘No, didn’t have time to pack before I was snatched here,’ Jesse sniped.

The suit ignored his comment and they walked along a long corridor before climbing some stairs for a couple of flights and ending up in a nicely decorated area of the building, finally entering a plush office.

Jesse walked inside and then stood awkwardly feeling the softness of the carpet under his bare feet, he then noticed an older man with short black hair, and his back to him. Slowly the man turned and looked at Jesse, a look that seemed to linger as he stepped closer. Jesse felt unsure under his gaze, the older man seemed to be waiting for something, but Jesse remained silent.

‘Do you know who I am?’ Del Burley finally spoke.

Jesse was distracted as he glanced over spotting another man he had only just noticed sat in a chair to the side, he turned back to Del. ‘Should I?’ Jesse asked.

‘You really don’t know who I am?’ Del checked.

Jesse glanced around the rest of the office. ‘Are you some famous businessman, or something?’ Jesse guessed by their surroundings.

Del suddenly broke out into a smile, he placed a hand on Jesse’s shoulder before offering his hand to greet him.

‘Sorry, this arm isn’t working too well right now,’ Jesse offered as explanation as he forced Del to switch hands, and they finally shook hands.

‘Your injury, of course,’ the older man spoke seemingly remembering why. ‘Well clearly you don’t know who I am, so let me introduce myself properly, I’m Mr Del Burley, Grant’s father,’ Del couldn’t miss the fearful look in the young man’s eyes, almost recoiling from him.

‘Ok,’ Jesse was definitely out of his comfort zone, his mental state was not prepared for any of this as he glanced around the room, it felt too rich and untouchable to him.

‘Please, take a seat,’ Del offered and went to sit behind his desk as Jesse took a moment to gently sit down, seemingly in pain as he moved. ‘I, er, wanted to have a quick chat with you, confidentially, my son is not to know we’ve spoken can I trust that you won’t tell him?’

‘Ok,’ Jesse shrugged unsure, something about this situation was not sitting well with Jesse, Del Burley was unnerving him, he was intimidating, and this guy was as crazy as his son clearly.

‘Good, good,’ Del desperately wanted to rid the room of the awkwardness. ‘Listen, I know what my son did to you, the harm he caused you with the gun, and what we have put you through to get you here, and I also know about my son’s interest in you,’ he said diplomatically, not missing the flash of anger in the young man’s face on the last point. ‘What I need to ask is whether we can reach an agreement that means you never see my son again?’

‘Where do I sign?’ Jesse said quickly, maybe a bit to eagerly.

‘Excuse me?’ Del checked, glancing at Franko sitting on the chair, having not expected that response.

‘Look, you can keep the half a million, I really don’t care, especially if it means I never have to see him again,’ Jesse stressed very eagerly.

Del considered the man’s response with interest, then concern. ‘Wait, are you here against your will?’ he asked.

Jesse looked at the man incredulously, adrenalin kicking in for a moment. ‘Your men removed me from a hospital, after unsuccessfully trying to snatch me from my own home,’ Jesse stated. ‘I have no shoes, yo, I’m wearing what I was wearing in the hospital, this tee shirt is your son’s because I only had a stupid gown!’

‘I was led to believe that your private security prevented you from coming willingly, I thought you wanted to be with my son,’ Del stated, sitting forward.

‘Your son shot me,’ Jesse exclaimed.

‘He said it was an accident,’ Del protested.

Jesse took a moment to calm down, the energy he had found quickly draining as the pain was now distracting him slightly. ‘I am not here willingly, I can assure you of that,’ and his emotions began to rise to the surface.

Del stood up and came around to Jesse’s side of the desk. ‘Has my son hurt you, other than shooting you?’ he asked with a serious air.

Jesse held onto his right arm, unsure of what to say or do but he felt it was probably already written all over him. ‘He,’ Jesse began but stopped as his emotions threatened. ‘Look, I’m willing to do whatever you need me to do, ok, I want out of this as much as you want me out of this,’ Jesse simply said. ‘You really don’t want to get mixed up with my employers, your son certainly shouldn’t get mixed up in it, he is better out of my life, trust me and I can help, ok?’

‘I’m glad we have an agreement,’ Del continued to look at Jesse, scrutinising him and noticing that he had not made eye contact with him since the handshake. The scrawny kid sat in front of him, looking younger than his age suggested, with his short scruffy hair. Yet somehow this junkie kid could summon up half a million like it was no trouble, who had no idea who he was, he considered with a sly smile. ‘I’m guessing it’s better I don’t ask too many questions about what you actually do to make a living, right?’ Del questioned and Jesse just nodded his head, and Del saw he was clearly troubled, on edge even. ‘And I’m guessing my son is being his usual arrogant self with wanting a piece of your ass,’ he then added and noted the jolt of panic he got from the kid in reaction. ‘I thought so,’ Del sighed knowingly.

‘He doesn’t understand what no means,’ Jesse simply said looking away from Del, fixing his stare on something on the other side of the room.

‘I’m afraid he takes after his father there,’ Del grinned without explanation and then took a deep breath. ‘I want you to fake your death,’ Del stated.

Jesse glanced at the man with sudden confusion clear on his face. ‘Excuse me?’

‘It needs to look natural, we need real reactions, my kid will see through a set up so the less people who know the better, that’s just me and you kid, and maybe a couple of others,’ Del enthused.

‘I’m not sure,’ Jesse hesitated. ‘I mean I get why we need a plan, here, but is this really the best way?’

‘Let me worry about that,’ Del insisted, as he moved round to the drawers of his desk. ‘I’ll draft in two of my top men to formulate the best scenario, I’m thinking car accident would be the most believable, or maybe poisoning, oh or an overdose given your history?’

Jesse narrowed his eyes wondering where this was going but then shrugged, with his adrenaline now shot he was losing focus and just wanted to be out of this crazy house for good. ‘Whatever, just make sure I don’t actually die, yo?’

‘Of course, of course,’ Del assured him and then he paused, simply staring at Jesse for longer than Jesse felt comfortable with. ‘Look, you do this for me and I’ll return your money to you once it’s all sorted, does that work, Jesse?’

Jesse’s head shot up on Del using his first name, a genuine shiver ran up his spine, but he quickly dismissed it, he really didn’t feel too great. ‘Yeah, whatever,’ Jesse got up from his seat, unable to hide the pain he was feeling and noticed the concerned and unsure look he was getting from the older man before he looked away. ‘Grant is coming with me tonight, he says he can’t leave me whilst I get my shoulder fixed, but I can’t guarantee his safety if he gets too hands on when I don’t want it, I’m serious.’

Del met Jesses eyes, his expression suddenly very serious. ‘You need to keep my son safe when he’s with your people,’ Del simply said, or rather warned, his eyes burning into Jesse now. ‘It’ll just be for a couple of days, keep him safe and then you’ll never see him again, I need you to do that for me, Jesse,’ Del requested, putting his hand on Jesse’s shoulder. ‘I get it’s not ideal I’m sure, I can see your pain but it’s just a couple of days, ok?’

Jesse felt the shiver again and was conflicted, Del’s hold on him felt like fire and the idea of letting Grant be so close to him in his own space, and willingly accepting it terrified him on many levels but what choice did he have? He sensed the underlying threat from Del, there was something very real in the way Del threatened him if any harm came to Grant and didn’t want to call this man’s bluff. 

‘Can I tell someone about the plan on my side? Just so they understand and don’t flip out, give me some back up or support? If they realise it’s for the greater good, it will help sell it to Grant,’ Jesse requested.

Del considered the request, and now he seemed troubled. ‘I’m not sure, I already said the fewer people who know the more convincing it will look.’

‘Surely someone on my side is going to have to be in on it when I miraculously come back to life?’ Jesse considered. ‘Because, you know right, I’m definitely going to ‘not die’, right?’ Jesse double checked, and for the first time he started to question the plan internally, a sudden bad feeling when he looked at Del, something was bothering him but at that point he just wanted to get out of there.

‘One person,’ Del then reluctantly agreed. ‘Give me their phone number, in forty-eight hours I will call them with the plan, and you make it clear to them that there will be no questions asked ok, it’s my plan or nothing and we stick to the plan, it’s vital that my son believes you are dead and we need everyone else in that moment to believe it too, there can be no doubt, agreed?’

Jesse took a deep breath, he had nothing else to work with and it seemed Del was confident he knew a guy who knew a guy, so he was willing to play along. ‘Agreed,’ Jesse said firmly, and then twisted the note pad he saw on Del’s desk and wrote a number down. ‘Call this number when you know the plan, my guy can let me know the details, you don’t need to contact me separately.’

‘Good, I like that,’ Del agreed. ‘Jose will show you back to your room, and thank you, I’m just sorry my messed-up son did what he did to you, I mean it,’ Del stated. 

Jesse narrowed his eyes suddenly as he looked at Del, then glancing at the other man, he couldn’t shake a strange feeling he suddenly had, and just glared at the older man.

Del noticed the look and quickly moved away from Jesse. ‘I’m sure this doesn’t need to be said, but you breathe a word of what my son had done to you to anyone who should never know, and I will find you,’ Del warned, Jesse nodded his head and left the room in silence. 

He was led back to the basement room, his mind going over what had just happened and he couldn’t shake the weird feeling that was deep inside him, unable to believe that things had taken such a turn. Jesse looked upwards as he walked, he really needed another hit if he was to get through the next few hours.

* * *

Grant returned to the room and was fuming, the important task he had been told he needed to attend to had turned out to be nothing more than a folly. Now, glancing around the room he could not see Jesse, and he was about to explode. Before he did however, he heard the flush of the toilet, and took a deep breath. Moving to the small bathroom he opened the door and saw Jesse was cleaning his one good hand, the other one just hanging by his side.

‘Are you ok?’ Grant asked.

Jesse looked at Grant through the reflection of the mirror and looked a little out of sorts. ‘Yeah,’ he finally offered.

Grant moved closer and sidled up behind him, putting his hands around Jesse’s waist. ‘My tee looks good on you,’ he murmured into Jesse’s ear, and Jesse rolled his eyes. ‘Where were we before I was called away.’

‘Grant, seriously, I’m really tired,’ Jesse whined. ‘My shoulder is killing me.’

‘I can take your mind off that,’ Grant whispered.

‘Seriously, yo,’ Jesse tried to push away, but Grant held him tighter. ‘This isn’t cool,’ Jesse fought a little harder to wriggle free but a sharp pain in his shoulder restricted him, and he froze in pain for a moment to recompose his thoughts.

Grant used the advantage he had, seemingly enjoying the slight struggle as he rubbed his groin against Jesse, matching the struggles Jesse put up with moans of enjoyment. His hand easily slipped into the front Jesse’s waistband, facing very little resistance.

‘No,’ Jesse said sharply pushing back as he felt himself being cupped. ‘Seriously,’ Jesse persisted and once again tried to wriggle free, but another jolt of pain caused him to pause and Grant began to jerk him off sending sensations that almost paralysed Jesse where he stood. Grant quicken the pace, giving Jesse little room to recover or move, as his breathing quickened, and he felt explosions in his mind finding himself responding to the actions Grant was forcing onto him. He seemed to lose minutes to the sensations and realised he was now leaning back against Grant who held him with his other hand protectively, panting more loudly Jesse inwardly cursed his own body before he felt himself collapsing to his knees against Grant, feeling his seed release suddenly and his vision almost blacked out as he gulped in as much air as he could manage. Jesse felt himself being spun round violently, two hands suddenly in his hair as he felt a dick suddenly hitting his face and Jesse didn’t need to ask Grant what he wanted. Jesse tried pulling away, but a sharp sting across his cheek from an open hand brought him quickly to his senses again and he felt Grant’s fingers dig into the sides of his head giving him no choice in the matter and he was forced to accept the cock. 

Choking almost immediately Jesse struggled to breath, feeling his head being moved into some sort of rhythm. He gagged and then felt another sharp cuff to the head and he finally stopped fighting, sensing it was now easier to just drift away and let it run its course. It felt like forever before he finally chocked on Grant’s release, resisting it for so long before swallowing under duress. His mouth was finally cleared but to his surprise he felt his head snap to the side, a sharp pain erupting around his cheek and he collapsed to the ground in agony and his shoulder exploded in pain under him as he landed in a daze, unable to protect himself.

Pain enveloped him completely, his breathing became difficult as he tried to stay conscious even though the darkness was tempting him. It took him a few moments to realise Grant was now by his side, but even though he could see his mouth moving he could not make out the noise around him. The room felt like it was spinning for a moment before things finally started to become more stable, and Jesse finally managed to catch his breath.

‘Jesse?’ Grant’s voice finally broke through.

‘Help me up!’ Jesse demanded with panic. ‘Going to be sick,’ he managed, and Grant easily lifted him up and practically threw him towards the toilet. Jesse just made it in time to empty the contents of his stomach, sending fresh pains through him as his body retch until every last bit of his stomach had emptied. Jesse was thankful that he had hardly eaten anything, then almost retch again when he realised what the majority of the contents was.

He quickly pulled the handle to rid the bowel of his sick, and then collapsed onto the floor. A light sheen of sweat covered him as he relished the cool tiles against his back, he took some needed breaths to recover.

‘Jesse?’ Grant kneeled beside him, his hand gently brushed Jesse’s hair back.

‘Why didn’t you stop?’ Jesse asked when he found the energy.

‘Didn’t you enjoy it?’ Grant asked, a wicked smile on his face.

‘Enjoy it?’ Jesse scoffed, and let his head roll back before he answered. ‘What the hell was that, and you fucking hit me,’ Jesse suddenly remembered as he felt the growing bruise on his cheek. ‘How the hell was that fun?’

Before Jesse could protest, he felt Grant scoop his upper body up and held him close into a hug. Now that his shoulder just constantly hurt, along with the rest of his body he just accepted it and felt his eyes tearing up, unable to deal with everything anymore.

‘We will get you fixed up and then it’ll be better,’ Grant whispered.

Jesse closed his eyes, unsure if he could pretend to ever enjoy being in Grants company and he wondered if he wouldn’t just prefer the consequences instead, unsure why he was even trying to stay alive to deal with the pain and anguish of his most recent actions.

* * *

Mike tapped the steering wheel as they waited in the darkened parking lot, he glanced over to Walter White who was sat in the passenger seat.

‘You didn’t have to come with me for this,’ Mike stated.

‘I want to be here,’ Walt responded. ‘Is everything set up at the facility?’

‘They are ready to admit Jesse tonight, get him the drugs he needs to be comfortable, but the actual operation will take place late tomorrow when the doctors return from the North,’ Mike relayed.

‘I can’t imagine how he has coped without his pain meds,’ Walt considered.

‘We don’t exactly know if he has,’ Mike offered.

Walt offered a concerned frown at that suggestion and checked his watch. ‘They should be here soon.’

‘There’s lights just ahead, turning in,’ Mike gestured and moved to get out of the car. ‘Stay in here, just in case,’ Mike ordered to Walt who didn’t object.

Mike went to the back of the car and opened the trunk, leaving the contents inside, as he waited for the car to pull up alongside them. Once parked, the driver exited and then opened the trunk of his car, before walking to Mike and checking the bag. The next five minutes were spent watching the guy count and re-count the contents of the bag and once satisfied he zipped it back up, and took the bag placing it into the trunk of his own car.

He hit the back of the car as he lowered the trunk and the two back doors opened, Grant and Jesse got out of the car and with only the briefest of gestures to Mike, they got into the back of his car. Mike rolled his eyes seeing Jesse was only wearing a tee shirt and joggers, and no shoes, it was not a warm night and figured the kid must be freezing, wondering how that was affecting his condition. Mike pulled out a heavy winter blanket from his trunk before shutting it, then opening the door Jesse had just closed and giving him the blanket, and then he watched the other car pulled away. Glancing back, he saw Jesse had embraced the blanket and was now huddled in it as Mike closed the door again, returning to the driver’s seat. There was no words being said as Mike started up the car, and he quickly glanced in the rear view mirror to see both Jesse and Grant seated, Grant had scooted over a bit more and now had his arm around Jesse, who seemed in desperate need of some rest as he buried himself deeper into the blanket.

‘What’s the plan?’ Grant finally spoke up.

‘We are heading to the facility so Jesse can get started on the medication he needs pre-operation,’ Mike stated.

‘We’re not going to his house?’ Grant questioned.

‘Why would we go there when Jesse is in urgent need of medical attention,’ Walt spoke up mockingly.

‘It’s the middle of the night, why put Jesse through that so soon?’ Grant asked.

‘Jesse should have had the operation yesterday, if you hadn’t taken him from the hospital so I think we’ll leave his care to the experts, which is not you if you’re confused,’ Mike stated firmly.

‘I trust he’s been able to rest whilst in your care, to aid his recovery?’ Walt asked, he caught sight of Jesse and already knew the answer.

‘I am here, stop talking like I’m not,’ Jesse weakly spoke, shuffling in the blankets. ‘I want to go to the facility,’ he simply said.

Grant seemed to draw Jesse in closer. ‘Ok, the facility it is,’ Grant decided.

‘Thank you for that,’ Mike now mocked and briefly glanced at Walt, seeing a shared dislike for the stranger in their midst.

* * *

‘Where’s lover boy?’ Walt asked as he glanced around, he had been so focused on the care being given to Jesse that he hadn’t noticed his absence.

‘Cigarette break, I’m guessing,’ Mike simply said.

Walt reacted with frustration seeing Jesse double up in pain as the nurses tried to get him settled in the bed. ‘He’s worse than he was twenty-four hours ago before they took him, much worse,’ Walt observed.

‘No pain meds and no rest would do that,’ Mike simply said. ‘He has new bruises, been struck on his face a couple times at best guess,’ he added.

‘Jesus,’ Walt noticed the bruise on Jesse’s face for the first time. ‘He seems withdrawn, I don’t like it,’ Walt added and saw Mike nod his head to agree.

‘The kid was frozen to the bone when I gave him the blanket,’ Mike frowned. ‘This guy just seems blind or oblivious to it all.’

The nurses finally got Jesse settled enough to be able to start taking down his vitals, and then hooking up the meds he needed. After a couple of minutes, it became apparent they were beginning to work as the tension and anguish left Jesse’s form, and he finally began to relax.

‘Mike,’ Jesse called out and Mike stepped forward, he had to get close to hear Jesse’s weakened voice. ‘I’ll explain later but don’t harm Grant, just play along, ok?’

Mike narrowed his eyes. ‘Play along?’

‘Just humour him, don’t kill him,’ Jesse drowsily spoke.

‘I have no intention of killing him, Jesse, so rest and don’t worry, kid,’ Mike assured him.

‘Good,’ Jesse was fighting the drugs that were making him tired. ‘It’s important you play along with the fact I love him, ok?’ Jesse managed in a low whisper before sleep finally took him over.

Mike watched as Jesse finally drifted away, his words confusing him as he looked at Grant returning to the room. Mike straightened up and returned to stand by Walt, allowing Grant to slip by and sit next to Jesse’s bed, he took hold of the sleeping Jesse’s hand.

Putting a hand onto Walt’s arm, Mike stopped Walt from reacting to the action. ‘Just let it be,’ Mike whispered.

‘Jesse needs to be left to rest,’ Walt hissed.

‘Jesse is sleeping, those drugs will keep him sleeping for a number of hours, simple hand holding will not wake him, so let it be,’ Mike instructed Walt in a hushed whisper.

‘What did Jesse tell you?’ Walt asked suspiciously.

‘Not sure, he was mostly mumbling incoherently, so the drugs worked,’ Mike shrugged.

Walt looked at Mike with confusion but figured it was best not to keep talking whilst in the company of Grant, and he quietly seethed seeing that man so close to Jesse.

‘I need to get going, got another batch to cook tomorrow,’ Walt checked the time. ‘Today,’ he corrected. ‘Are you ok to give me a lift home?’

‘Tyrus is in the next room so let’s make this quick, I am under orders to keep an eye on things,’ Mike stated and gestured for Walt to follow him back outside towards the car. Once clear of the facility, Mike took a deep breath. ‘I’m not going to tell you what Jesse told me.’

‘So, he did say something, and about Grant?’ Walt checked. ‘Come on Mike, he seemed keen to tell you something.’ 

Mike looked at Walt as he unlocked the car, something about Jesse’s request and why he told him and not Walt indicated to Mike that it wasn’t information he should freely share until he had all the details so he sat in his car and waited for Walt to settle. ‘He told me that whatever that is between him and Grant, it’s real.’

‘Real?’ Walt checked.

‘That’s what he said, he made me promise to look after Grant, not to let anyone mistreat him, because its genuine,’ Mike offered, as he started the car and pulled away.

‘And you believe him?’ Walt checked in disbelief.

‘I have no reason not too,’ Mike considered.

‘The bruise on his face, Jesse’s odd behaviour, the lack of any care or attention from Grant?’ Walt reeled off. ‘I think the drugs really did work on Jesse if that’s the mumbo jumbo he told you.’

‘Just go easy on Grant, just in case, we need to be supportive of Jesse right now and not cause any further upset to his recovery, agreed?’ Mike reasoned calmly and saw that Walt was reluctant to agree, but finally nodded his head.

* * *

‘Are they gone?’ Del Burley briskly asked as he walked into the room where Franko was waiting.

‘They left a couple of hours ago, we now have the money,’ Franko gestured to the bag on Del’s table.

Del saw the bag. ‘OK, keep that bag safe, we will return it once the deed is done,’ Del gestured.

Franko sat down and watched as Del moved the bag down to the floor, and sat behind his desk, checking a few items of mail before glancing at Franko staring at him.

Franko cleared his throat. ‘We’ve not had a chance to talk, not since you saw Pinkman, you disappeared quite quickly the other day, is everything ok?’ Franko asked.

‘Everything is fine,’ Del returned.

‘Have you worked out a plan for the fake death?’ Franko persisted.

‘Overdose, it’s the least likely to surprise anyone,’ Del decided. ‘Can you get the items needed to pull it off and let me know where you hide them? I have the number to call when everything is in place.’

‘When you say get the items, are we actually faking the death?’

Del paused and looked at Franko, his words seem to sting. ‘He didn’t recognise me, Franko.’

‘Maybe he’s a good actor, he has every reason to play you for a fool,’ Franko frowned.

‘No, other than some weird glances, that kid had no idea who I was,’ Del sighed. ‘Did you see him, Franko, did you properly look at him?’

‘He’s a threat, do not get blindsided,’ Franko warned. ‘I remember what happened before, I’m not going to put myself through that again, it was bad enough the first time.’

‘It’s not a secret this time,’ Del opposed.

‘If he has truly forgotten it would just take one moment, one trigger, and it could all come back to him, is that what you want?’ Franko demanded.

‘Of course not,’ Del blasted. ‘What the hell has Grant done, we should just kill Grant and be done with it,’ he sneered.

‘It can easily be arranged,’ Franko suggested.

‘His mother is scarier than anything Pinkman could do to me,’ Del smirked. ‘Seriously, how does he not remember me?’

Franko sat back and sighed. ‘His parents were very cooperative,’ he simply said. ‘They gave him what we needed them to give him and he became the upright citizen we saw the other day.’

‘Don’t joke about that,’ Del snapped. ‘Those parents make me look like father of the year,’ Del sneered. ‘I mean what they did to that kid, that was way worse than what I did, and his father? You remember what damage he used to do! They are the reason I even met Jesse, jokes, the two of them.’

‘We found out the truth about them, that was a pleasing moment in our history, and that’s why they did what they had to do, to protect you and your future,’ Franko smiled.

Del rested his head in his hand, looking distraught. ‘I looked him up online, what little I could find on him and it cut me up, Jesse Pinkman, the Jesse I remember, that innocent teenager, that wasn’t who we saw the other day, it was just a shadow of the boy I knew.’

‘So, lets just put him out of his misery and kill the threat once and for all, like we should have done years ago,’ Franko stated.

‘He didn’t look happy, he looked messed up, destroyed, no doubt Grant is adding his own sweet touch to the poor kid’s trauma,’ Del frowned.

‘I get it, I truly do, and I did at the time,’ Franko spoke more sincerely now. ‘But I can not shake the feeling he’s playing you, Del, and I don’t want to force the issue but Jesse Pinkman has to die, no more excuses, no more second chances, take him out once and for all.’

Del looked at his friend for over twenty years, knowing he was speaking from the heart. ‘Don’t make me say it.’

‘You have to,’ Franko insisted. ‘Shit, just seeing him the other day, it’s triggered you again, hasn’t it?’

‘No!’ Del barked.

‘It took you five years, Del, five years for you to get clean, and he was part of the reason it took you so long,’ Franko raised his voice. ‘I am not going to stand back and watch you lose yourself again to some stupid kid and your sick addictions!’

‘He’s not a kid anymore!’ Del returned.

‘I don’t fucking believe it, what is this hold that Pinkman has on the Burley line?’ Franko stood up with frustration. ‘We already have to kill him to break his spell over your own son, and it turns out you as well.’

‘Do it,’ Del Burley simply said, getting to his feet. ‘Do it and don’t tell me anything more unless I really need to know, and you better make sure I’m kept busy for the next few days because,’ Del took a deep breath. ‘I don’t trust myself right now.’

Franko watched as Del left the office and he was already assigning tasks to his team to help follow Del’s orders, and then he started to reach out to known associates, happy to carry out the direct order on Pinkman, glad to finally get rid of that thorn once and for all.

TBC


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whilst Jesse is trying to recover, and fight off Grant's advances, he's finding it harder and harder to keep control, then it's time to activate the plan.

**Chapter 6**

Mike offered a brown bag of fast food to Grant Burley before taking the seat next to him, as they waited in a side room. Jesse had been in theatre for nearly two hours at that point, and it was clear that things had been eventful from the snatches of information Mike had received. The damage to Jesse’s shoulder had been far worse than they’d seen in the scans taken just a day or so earlier, suggesting he had done anything but rest the shoulder and further injured it and Mike glanced at Grant, his suspicions high.

‘So, tell me,’ Mike began gruffly. ‘This thing you have with Jesse, how serious is it?’

‘We’re close,’ Grant simply said between bites. ‘We have such a cool connection.’

‘Jesse told me he was,’ Mike paused, this was a big ask that went against all his better instincts. ‘Happy being with you.’

Grant couldn’t hide his surprise as he snapped his attention to Mike. ‘He did? That’s great, I mean I know we have something but to know he said that.’

‘Tell me about the bruise on Jesse’s face,’ Mike calmly asked.

‘Bruise?’ Grant purposely sounded vague.

‘The one on his cheek, who hit him?’ Mike asked, allowing Grant the chance to possibly blame someone else.

‘Oh, I think that happened when he got taken,’ Grant offered.

‘So, he tried to stop being taken, kind of odd considering he wants to be with you, don’t you think?’ Mike observed, interested in how Grant would reply.

Grant focused intently on finishing his lunch, he seemed to be troubled before he looked at Mike and he saw a shift in his arrogant gaze, looking a little more like he had the first time Mike had met him.

‘OK, I hit him,’ he simply said.

‘You?’ Mike acted fake surprised. ‘What happened?’

‘It was an accident, we were high, things got real,’ Grant attempted to explain, and got to his feet, throwing the packaging from his meal away.

‘Always seems to be that way with you,’ Mike shrugged casually. ‘Well clearly Jesse has forgiven you, seeing as he said what he did to me,’ Mike stated as he also got to his feet. ‘But I appreciate the honesty,’ he said with a genuine air. ‘It’s important to me to know all the facts about our employee’s well-being.’

Grant looked at Mike for a moment before speaking. ‘I have anger issues, and I’m really working on it and I know it’s a problem, especially when I’m high, but I’m not a horrible person, ok?’

Mike narrowed his eyes. ‘OK, I suggest when it comes to Jesse you work a little bit harder.’

‘Yeah,’ Grant agreed. ‘I will,’ he added. ‘It’s just, I got so much crap going on and my dad is a dick, keeps testing me, pushing me, asking me to keep proving myself when he’s the one who should be proving shit to me! He didn’t even know about me until three years ago and then he denied I existed,’ he raged.

‘Jesse’s recovery is dependent on rest and the correct recuperation,’ Mike stated calmly, as he moved to leave the room. ‘Now it’s all very interesting to learn about your father, I’m sure it’s no walk in the park for you but I will be relying on you to ensure Jesse’s shoulder heals from this point onwards, no more needs for violent fixes, do we at least agree on that?’

‘Yeah,’ Grant agreed. ‘Complete rest and recuperation, yes.’

Mike offered a brief smile before leaving the room, feeling he had broken down one wall with Grant, learning more about his messed up relationship with his father gave him something to dwell on, possibly use to his advantage at some point. 

* * *

It was the early hours when Mike first saw Jesse stir, and he glanced at Grant who was sleeping soundly on the sofa. Mike got to his feet and stood by Jesse’s bed as the kid slowly blinked his eyes and regained consciousness.

‘Welcome back,’ Mike offered.

‘Is it over?’ Jesse asked.

‘It is, and it was successful as far as they can tell, now it’s up to you,’ Mike stressed.

Jesse glanced at the heavily strapped shoulder, the dressing that now covered his upper body, wrapping around his chest to add extra support. His arm was in a sling, and it seemed they were not taking any chances this time of trusting him to not further damage the shoulder.

‘Where’s Grant?’ Jesse asked, noticing Mike’s eye roll.

‘Your boyfriend is just over there, on the couch, sleeping like a princess,’ Mike drawled.

Jesse glared at Mike, then glanced at Grant before lifting his head back into the pillow. ‘Mike, we need to talk,’ his whispered urgently. ‘In private,’ he eyes darted towards Grant again as an additional indicator.

‘OK,’ Mike acknowledged, he then moved away out of the room and returned with a wheelchair. Jesse watched as he then disconnected the IV feed that was going into his left hand like a pro, and with care that surprised him. ‘I would imagine you need a smoke?’ Mike then suggested and Jesse just nodded his head.

Swiftly Mike removed the bed cover and easily lifted Jesse up, taking care not to jolt his shoulder, Jesse shifted his weight to assist as best he could as he was lowered into the chair. Mike guided the chair to the outside and rolled it a good distance away from the exit, he then turned on his heels and quickly walked back inside before returning moments later with a blanket and he took care to cover Jesse’s slight frame with it.

Jesse for the most part just waited patiently. ‘You done mothering me?’

‘It’s cold out here,’ Mike defended, and then reached into his pocket and offered Jesse a cigarette.

‘Oh, man, so you really do have cigarettes,’ Jesse enthused and eagerly snatched one, Mike then offered a light and gave Jesse a few seconds to savour it.

‘So, what do we need to talk about?’ Mike asked.

Jesse took another drag on his cigarette and then rubbed his face, suddenly looking anguished. ‘I need your help, and you have to trust me,’ Jesse began, his tone serious. ‘Man, this is so messed up,’ Jesse stressed looking upwards, trying to figure out where to begin. ‘Grant’s father wants me gone, he’s too important and shit to have his son’s mixed up with me but he knows his son, and he knows he’s not going to just listen to his dad’s wishes,’ Jesse explained. ‘He also fears for his son getting mixed up with our business, he can’t be harmed or put in danger.’

‘How much does his father know about us?’ Mike asked with concern.

‘Very little but enough to know we can’t be good for his son, I think because he found out so little about what I do when he tried to check,’ Jesse answered. ‘I only told him that I couldn’t protect his son if he was seen to be a risk to me and he got it, he knew what I meant.’

‘Ok, so that’s something, his dad isn’t an idiot who’s oblivious to his son’s anger issues,’ Mike conceded. ‘How do we break you guys up? I’m assuming this boyfriend act is just a cover, right?’

Jesse just nodded his head, finishing the cigarette, but his actions told Mike all he needed to know, he saw a nervousness and anger, sudden flashes of panic. ‘It’s all fake, I want him gone as much as his father wants me gone,’ Jesse quietly stressed finally.

‘What’s the plan?’ Mike then asked.

‘Del Burley, his father is going to call you,’ Jesse informed him.

‘Me?’ Mike raised his eyebrows.

‘Yeah, he’s going to tell you the plan and you can’t question it you just need to follow the instructions, his people are working out the best scenario to convince Grant to go back home and forget me,’ Jesse stated.

‘And how exactly are they going to do that?’ Mike questioned.

Jesse looked a little uncertain. ‘They are going to fake my death.’

‘They are going to do what now?’ Mike fully turned to Jesse and checked to see if he was joking. ‘Are you serious?’

‘It’s the only way,’ Jesse stressed with force. ‘And I’ve already agreed, I was just desperate to get out of there, and he assures me I’d not actually be killed,’ Jesse finished, but couldn’t help the nervous glance he threw Mike.

Mike processed what Jesse had said, his gut hated the idea but there was something in Jesse’s voice that concerned him. ‘You sure this is the only way?’

Jesse’s good hand was now tapping the arm of the wheelchair with nervous energy. ‘We didn’t have long to plan and Del didn’t really give me much of a say, the guy creeped me out as much as his son does, and he doesn’t seem the sort to welcome too many suggestions but I did get him to agree to making you my contact guy,’ Jesse offered hopefully.

Mike too a deep breath and considered Jesse’s general anxiety that was clear to see. ‘Ok, I’ll play along,’ Mike decided, against his better judgement.

‘No one else can know, not Mr White and especially not Grant, it has to be believable so only you and me can know, ok?’ Jesse instructed.

‘That makes sense to be able to sell it,’ Mike conceded. ‘We can make sure Walter White is elsewhere when it happens, not sure he needs be a part of proceedings and I wouldn’t trust him if he was,’ Mike frowned. 

‘So, he’s going to call you and he made it clear to me that you can’t have a say or change the plan, ok? I know you will probably want to, but Mike, please just help me here I really don’t want to spend any more time with Grant than I have to,’ Jesse seemed close to breaking point, and keen to ensure Mike understood the terms he agreed.

‘I heard you the first time, kid,’ Mike sighed, ‘but be assured I will make sure you don’t actually die, ok? That is not acceptable to me agreeing to do this, Gus would not be pleased.’

‘He assured me,’ Jesse confirmed again but seemed hesitant. ‘And good,’ Jesse took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

‘Want to go back inside now?’ Mike asked.

‘Give me a few more minutes, yo,’ Jesse returned, and Mike sensed Jesse was on edge, battling to keep his emotions in check.

Mike offered another cigarette and Jesse rapidly accepted, as he let Mike light it for him. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Much better now this is sorted,’ he gestured to his shoulder. ‘But generally, just a bit I don’t know, messed up I guess,’ Jesse said as he savoured the smoke. ‘Least the pain is numbed,’ he sighed and rubbed his temple. ‘Do you think I’ll get the feeling back in this arm?’ he then asked absently.

‘I’ve been told it should return once things are healed, and a bit of physio,’ Mike offered. ‘Tell me, what did Grant do to you? Your shoulder was pretty messed up and then that bruise on your face.’

Jesse noticeably clamed up, focusing only on his cigarette like his life depended on it. Noticing Mike’s glare, he then frowned. ‘He’s just a bit full on,’ he offered awkwardly.

‘Did he try to rape you again?’ Mike bluntly asked, and the sharp stare Jeese aimed at him alerted him to the fact he was in the right area. Mike offered a heavy sigh, clearly angered.

‘There was no try this time,’ Jesse whispered avoiding eye contact, and flicked his cigarette away. ‘Take me back inside now.’

Mike stared at the kid, suddenly looking like he was about to break, and he rested his hand on Jesse’s good shoulder, comforting him as best he could. ‘You’re not alone now, I’ll do everything I can to make sure that this ends.’

‘Just don’t kill him ok, and make sure Mr White gets that memo too,’ Jesse stressed, controlling his emotions.

‘He’ll be fine,’ Mike started to push Jesse back into the facility, unable to shake the feeling that the situation had rapidly got out of hand and he needed to bring it back under his control.

* * *

Franko smiled as he received the small box, he opened it with care and saw the contents. He looked up at the guy who had supplied it, he looked like a mad scientist in his white jacket, hanging around the back of a building in some random ally way.

‘As requested, fake death kit 101,’ the white jacket man looked pleased with himself.

‘How much care did you take with the dosages?’ Franko asked.

‘Probably about right,’ the white jacket man smirked. ‘Just as you requested.’

Franko nodded his head. ‘Good, good,’ then offered the man an envelope. ‘As always, I was never here.’

Franko turned and began walking towards his car, as he glanced back the white jacket man had already disappeared.

* * *

Jesse walked slowly across the grass towards his house a couple of days later, having been released from the facility and under strict instructions to take things easy at home. As he walked from the car Grant caught up with him and instantly put an arm around Jesse’s waist escorting him towards the property.

Behind them Mike seethed, knowing Grant’s presence was the last thing Jesse needed during his recuperation, and just shaking his head at how little regard the man seemed to have for personal space and the injuries Jesse had.

Jesse opened his door and stepped into the living area, immediately going to the futon and taking a seat. He still felt a little drowsy from the medications and aftereffects of the operation, his energy levels were low.

‘Are you staying here too?’ Grant asked towards Mike, as the older man came into the house with Jesse’s bag.

‘I’m under strict orders,’ Mike simply revealed.

‘Come on Jesse, you don’t have to stand for that, tell him to leave what’s the worst that can happen?’ Grant aimed at Jesse.

‘He has to stay,’ Jesse simply said, rubbing his face.

‘Says who?’ Grant complained.

‘A guy I don’t go against, ok?’ Jesse stressed, glancing at Mike with annoyance, he was not going to be able to survive Grant living in his house. ‘Can you go and grab me a soda?’ Jesse then asked towards Grant, who immediately seemed to be at odds, not looking like he was used to being asked to fetch stuff but after a moment’s hesitation he went off to the kitchen.

‘I don’t think I can do this,’ Jesse then panicked in a hushed voice towards Mike. ‘I don’t want him anywhere near me and having him in my house, after the last time he was here,’ he stressed, visibly panicked.

‘Calm down,’ Mike immediately ordered, and Jesse seemed to pull himself together with Mike’s words. ‘I’m here, nothing can happen, ok?’

‘Didn’t help last time,’ Jesse snapped then saw Mike’s heavy stare and just nodded his head instead, seemingly comforted by the thought at least after some thought. ‘Have you heard anything?’

‘Not yet,’ Mike revealed.

‘I thought he’d have been in touch by now,’ Jesse glanced towards the kitchen, his paranoia and fear escalating.

‘If I do not get a call by this time tomorrow, I’m taking this into my own hands, ok?’ Mike stated and Jesse nodded his head to agree and then stared as Grant returned with drinks for them all.

Mike’s phone then rang, it was an unknown number and he exchanged a hopeful glance with Jesse before exiting through the front door to take it out of earshot from Grant.

‘Alone at last,’ Grant said as he heavily sat down next to Jesse, knocking into his good side as he did so. ‘I have missed you so much,’ Grant smiled as he shifted to face Jesse on the futon, his hand came up to Jesse’s face and lightly stroked it. ‘Have you missed me?’

Jesse internally composed his initial fear. ‘Of course,’ he half smiled back. ‘Just still feeling a little out of it, the drugs.’

Grant leaned in and lightly kissed Jesse’s lips, before invading with more purpose. Jesse pulled away and put his left hand on Grant’s chest. ‘I’m tired, yo, still a bit sore,’ he gestured to his shoulder.

‘Come on,’ Grant pushed and used his superior strength to initiate the kiss once again, he leaned more on Jesse’s frame and applied more weight, as he deepened the kiss.

‘Aw,’ Jesse squirmed in pain. ‘Grant, stop.’ Grant’s hands were now brushing Jesse’s stomach, he was losing himself once again. ‘Grant, you’re hurting me, stop!’

Grant was suddenly pulled back and Mike nearly threw him across the room before simply holding him firmly. ‘He said stop, the kid needs to rest, so go easy,’ Mike stated.

‘We were just having some fun, old man,’ Grant complained.

‘Didn’t you hear what he said?’ Mike questioned.

Grant shrugged himself out of Mike’s hold and sat back down next to Jesse. ‘You wanted that, right?’ Grant asked almost demanding Jesse take his side.

‘Look, I’m just a bit fragile,’ Jesse attempted to explain, gesturing to his shoulder. ‘I asked you to stop.’

‘I know, I heard you, but I didn’t think you meant stop, stop,’ Grant explained. ‘Thought you meant don’t stop.’

‘Don’t stop?’ Mike questioned with annoyance. ‘Look I know you two lovebirds can’t keep your hands of each other but just for tonight, give it a rest so Jesse can get a good night’s sleep and feel even better tomorrow, deal?’

Grant sat back down next to Jesse and put his arm around him possessively but seemed at odds. ‘Ok, whatever old man.’

Mike looked ready to explode, but a pleading glance from Jesse calmed him down.

‘We’ll have some fun tomorrow,’ Jesse offered, finally playing along again, having seen Mike stand up for him. ‘Trust me I will need some pick me ups tomorrow you know? I’ll get us some of that blue crystal, we can have some real fun, yeah?’ he tried to sound enthusiastic.

‘Won’t your granddad object?’ Grant mocked.

‘Far from it, what this little shit does to his body for fun in his own time isn’t my concern, just so long as he can still work when we need him, meaning all his limbs and body parts intact,’ Mike stated, playing his part. ‘Do you want me to get you the really good stuff for tomorrow, I think there’s a fresh batch I can get my hands on?’

Jesse momentarily looked confused but then remembered the phone call, added to the weird glare Mike was throwing him, decided to just go with it. ‘Yeah, hell, yeah get that good stuff in, yo!’ Jesse exclaimed with fake excitement.

‘Excellent, tomorrow night, private party night, just me and you baby,’ Grant seemed a lot happier as he downed a can of soda, then lightly kissed Jesse on the top of his head. Jesse looked at Mike as he did so, and just saw Mike nodding his head, it seems the plan was in motion Jesse considered but left him wondering what it was, didn’t sound too much like a car accident or poisoning, unless and Jesse froze as his mind went there, it can’t be an overdose he started to stress internally.

* * *

Walter White was up early, as he prepared his lunch to take with him to the lab. He looked at his phone with a bit of agitation and seemed at odds for a moment before picking it up. He dialled a number and Mike answered after two rings.

‘How is he?’

‘He’s good,’ Mike simply said. ‘He’s home now, resting up.’

‘And Grant,’ Walt asked.

‘Under control but needs supervision,’ Mike implied with a heavy sigh, and Walt wasn’t sure he wanted to know the full details of what that response meant.

‘Are you there now? Can I talk to Jesse?’ Walt continued.

‘Tyrus is there now but I’ll be heading over in a couple of hours,’ Mike informed him. ‘Should be there till early morning.’

‘Gus is taking this protection very seriously, you are spending a lot of time with Jesse,’ Walt observed.

‘We are concerned by Grant’s father’s business, we don’t need it poking into ours, so it’s wise to keep an eye on this development,’ Mike stated, and Walt’s attention was caught.

‘Is Jesse in danger?’ he simply asked.

‘No, Walt, Jesse is not in any danger,’ Mike said tiredly.

‘But if Grant’s father starts getting too close, if this thing between Jesse and Grant gets more serious, what are the outcomes here?’ Walt worried, also thinking of his own situation.

Mike paused for a moment before offering a response. ‘We will be constantly evaluating the situation, Walter, but I suspect it won’t get to serious too soon,’ he finally offered.

‘I think I will come by this evening after the cook,’ Walt then stated.

‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea,’ Mike returned. ‘Jesse and Grant have plans,’ he simply added.

‘Plans?’ Walt questioned. ‘Shouldn’t he be resting, recuperating?’

‘It’s under control,’ Mike said without further comment.

‘Ok,’ Walt sighed. ‘Tell him I said hi and I’ll come by tomorrow,’ he then finished the call. Walt closed his eyes to consider the situation, he felt like Jesse was becoming too entangled in other business, and he needed him back in the lab. All the help Gus was offering Jesse, the medical help, the protection, paying that money to Grant, it could lose him Jesse’s loyalty and he began to fear the worse. Packing up his lunch he proceeded to leave his apartment to head over to the lab, he needed time to think.

* * *

Mike replaced his phone in his pocket after his call with Walt and frowned. He was sat in his car, discreetly parked behind the restaurant when he saw Gus putting a garbage bag into the bins and heading over. Waiting till Gus was settled Mike glanced at him.

‘Are they serious?’ Gus asked.

‘I don’t think so, I’d say it’s more a phase, nothing long lasting,’ Mike observed.

‘And Pinkman is doing better, after the operation?’ Gus asked.

‘Yeah, he’s getting the care he needed now,’ Mike agreed.

‘Has this Grant character offered any explanation as to why he wanted that money, and why he is blackmailing Jesse, whilst also claiming it is love?’ Gus asked pointedly.

‘He hasn’t said anything, he’s too consumed by Jesse,’ Mike offered with a frown. ‘And Jesse asked me not to pry.’ It was partially true, Mike considered, knowing he had to be diplomatic with the truth.

‘Why?’ Gus asked.

‘I think he wants the opportunity to work things out for himself with Grant,’ Mike offered, trying to sound genuine. ‘Between you and me I think he has his own doubts, which I believe will work in our favour eventually.’

Gus considered the response before replying. ‘Well for now I’m happy for things to run a natural course, we are not sensing any particular attention from Del Burley’s people and that’s how I’d like it to stay, so for now stay close to things, and keep me updated.’

‘Will do, you’ll be pleased to know that Pinkman will be able to return to work as early as next week, albeit light duties at first,’ Mike announced.

‘That’s great news, and then we can monitor his progress to try and expand his activities as he gets back to full fitness,’ Gus revealed before opening the car door and exiting.

Mike watched him go inside before he started up the engine and pulled away. Checking the time on his dashboard he searched in his pocket for a scrap of paper, on which were notes he had scribbled down, an address. 

It took him another ten minutes to reach the destination, and park up. He slowly got out and walked towards the back of a business premises, glancing around on instinct he saw nothing that concerned him, and he crouched down. Mike moved some apparent rubbish aside and found a box, picking it up he held it close to him, allowing his jacket to partially hide it as he walked back to his car and he drove home.

Twenty minutes later Mike was sat at his kitchen table with the box in front of him. With care, Mike opened the box and took a deep breath, seeing the items for the first time. He glanced upwards, clearly troubled. He took three separate syringes out, all filled but with different colours to set them apart from each other. Mike took the paper and unfolded it, simple instructions told him in what order, and when to administer the three syringes. A belt, spoon and other drug related items including empty syringes sat in the box, with what looked like a small rock of heroin.

‘I really don’t like this plan,’ Mike said to himself.

Mike separated the three coloured syringes from the rest of the items, knowing it was important they did not get mixed up with the other items, he needed these on him and only him, so he could be the one to control when Jesse got them. He ran the plan again in his mind, he had to administer the green syringe first at least two hours before the second blue syringe was administered, which was the ‘supposed’ heroin, this would cause Jesse to show all outside indicators of dying, overdosing and then being dead, only for then the orange and third syringe to be administered directly into the heart within 30 minutes of the blue one is given to kick start his system back to life. 

Mike took a deep breath, closing his eyes momentarily, it all made sense and the steps he was comfortable dealing with but it was the outside factors that made him nervous, the performance of convincing people Jesse was dying, then he being dead, getting Grant to leave his side asap, creating enough drama that he convinces Grant he needs to go and never come back. 

Mike was also aware that using an overdose as a means of faking Jesse’s death would not be something Jesse would be keen on, his memories of Jane still very strong in his mind and the trauma it has already caused him worried Mike. Jesse was surprisingly sensitive to people’s feelings, he struggled with the harsh realities of the world and no matter what his feelings were towards Grant, Mike was sure the last thing Jesse would want to inflict on him is that pain that was still so raw in him, that had driven him to nearly killing himself and giving up before rehab brought him slowly back. Then the simple fact of Jesse being anywhere near heroin again, Mike hated this plan.

Mike reread the instructions and the use of the word fatal, it may have just been a slip of describing the blue syringe but a part of Mike did wonder how much they cared about Jesse Pinkman and should he accidently die from this would it really bother them? Del Burley probably knew he couldn’t be touched, there would be no revenge, Gus would not want to bring his operation into the spotlight of the sort of man Del was.

Rubbing his face, Mike packed everything up with care and put the items in a bag, getting to his feet he headed out to his car, needing to relieve Tyrus and take over Jesse duties for what is probably going to be one of the hardest shifts he’s done.

* * *

The sudden awareness to a waking state caused Jesse to gasp and panic until his senses caught up with him and he realised he was already in a state of arousal, causing him to freeze, he managed to glance down trying to catch his breath to see Grant smothering his cock with his mouth. Jesse felt paralysed, unable to move with the intensity and semi woke state, he took in a few big gulps of breath as his mind overwhelmed him with the feelings and helplessness replaying Grant’s previous attacks, and he closed his eyes before suddenly reaching a climax that caused him to painfully shudder involuntarily for a few moments.

Finally, the sensations calmed down, and Jesse felt his breathing starting to return to normal as Grant sidled up to him, wrapping his arms around him. Jesse felt nauseous as Grant lightly kissed his neck, and then his hand brushed the side of his face.

‘You are amazing,’ Grant smiled.

‘That was-,’ Jesse paused still trying to find his words, whilst supressing every instinct to kick and scream at the guy manhandling him, but he knew deep down that he could not deny that his body had responded so emphatically to what Grant had been doing, and maybe, just maybe a small sick part of him had enjoyed it, making him hate himself. ‘-Some wake up call,’ he finally finished with hidden disgust.

‘Stupid bandages,’ Grant then complained tugging at the material, and Jesse realised they were covering his chest denying Grant access to his nipples, a favourite of his, he remembered.

‘Those bandages are helping though,’ Jesse lightly batted Grant’s hands away from them. ‘I’m feeling a lot better now and the pain is under control finally,’ Jesse sleepily remarked, struggling to keep up the pretence he had to keep up. ‘Did you sleep in here last night?’ Jesse then asked, not remembering going to sleep with Grant next to him.

‘Of course not, the old man put me in the spare room, and made sure I stayed there,’ Grant griped. ‘But when I woke up it was some other guy, so I snuck in and gave you your lovely wake up call.’

‘Great,’ Jesse lazily returned, trying to ignore the feeling of dread inside, his stomach was in knots.

‘Look, I’m sorry if I keep overstepping the mark,’ Grant offered softly. ‘I just need to make sure you know I can’t get enough of you, Jesse.’

Jesse took a deep breath feeling a sudden grip on his mind, this was too much, it was already taking up too much energy to entertain the idea of being comfortable around this monster. ‘I think sometimes,’ Jesse paused, but he couldn’t finish his sentence, he felt the inner turmoil take over as images of Gale came to the forefront, that longest moment before he… then he heard the gun shot and squeezed his eyes shut, his emotions rising. The bed beside him shifted, and suddenly she was there as he glanced over in panic, Jane lifeless and cold and he froze unable to breath and felt like a great weight was on top of him, trapping him, he couldn’t move as he kept staring at her dark soulless eyes that looks so real.

He felt pure fear overcome him, unable to move and the feeling of being smothered. He didn’t feel like he was in his room anymore, he felt disjointed and separated from his own mind. Jesse couldn’t focus, it was hard to breath and he desperately tried to take in air but he was frozen. He closed his eyes and felt he was in a memory, but it didn’t feel like anything he remembered, he wasn’t sure what it was, but it also felt strangely familiar. The confusion annoyed him, his anxiety was rising, he needed to understand but instead he felt numb and then his parents came into focus. Jesse was now screaming at them but there was no sound, and they were laughing at him, humiliating him, he wanted to cry but could not, he felt nothing and then he was falling.

‘No, no, no,’ Jesse repeated, he wanted this to end as his world spun, it was hard to catch the next breath, his vision became blurred with tears.

‘Jesse!’ A sharp sting across his face forced his head to the side and suddenly the confusion overwhelmed him. ‘Jesse, speak to me.’

‘Mike,’ Jesse tried to focus.

‘Come on, open your eyes, snap out of it,’ Mike encouraged, he was holding Jesse’s face stood to the side of the bed. ‘Take some deep breaths, come on, listen to my voice.’

Jesse struggled initially until finally he was able to breath in again, he was in his room and the haunting images had gone, as had Grant from his side.

‘I sent him with Tyrus to get breakfast, he’ll be gone for a good thirty minutes,’ Mike stated as if reading Jesse’s mind. ‘Come on, say something, let me know you’re back with us, kid.’

Jesse continued to blink his eyes, he wanted to speak but he was still trying to fathom what had happened and why things had been so vivid, so real and scary. Slowly he found his focus coming back and he looked at Mike and saw the look of concern, it worried him to see it, and things began to feel more normal once again. ‘What happened?’ Jesse asked unsure and Mike removed his hold on him.

‘I was hoping you could tell me,’ Mike stated.

‘I’m not sure,’ Jesse admitted, and swung his legs off the bed away from Mike, he took care to push himself up without hurting his bad shoulder and accepted Mike’s help to get to his feet. ‘I need to freshen up,’ he simply said as he escaped to the bathroom.

Mike followed him in, and Jesse knew there would be no discussion on boundaries, in truth Jesse wasn’t exactly sure he wanted to be alone right now. He moved gingerly to the sink and splashed his face with his good hand, he took a moment to compose himself.

‘He attacked me again,’ Jesse quietly said.

‘Dammit, I told my guys to ensure he didn’t disturb you,’ Mike chastised himself. ‘Was it bad? Are you hurt?’

‘It was good, I mean he blew me off and managed not to actually hurt me for once but,’ Jesse took a deep breath. ‘My head isn’t right, Mike, I don’t know, something’s wrong.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘I saw Jane, and Gale, it was like they were right there in the room with me and then I couldn’t escape my mind, I don’t know it means, it felt connected to Grant but I don’t know, maybe because he did that stuff It’s made me crazy or something,’ Jesse stressed and he felt his nerves starting to fray once again. ‘He didn’t have to hurt me, seems I’m able to do that to myself just fine now.’

‘He’s triggering those memories, Jesse,’ Mike calmly stated. ‘When I got here this morning I heard Grant freaking out, you were zoned out as if having some sort of panic attack, it took me ten minutes to snap you out of it I was about to call someone, you looked broken, mentally,’ Mike informed him.

‘Ten minutes?’ Jesse turned to Mike. ‘It didn’t feel that long,’ he questioned.

‘Let’s deal with Grant, and then we can get your head looked at, deal?’ Mike offered.

‘The plan?’ Jesse guessed. ‘What do we have to do?’

‘Well, kid, you have to literally trust me with your life,’ Mike frowned. ‘And I’m not happy about how we do this but as you asked, I didn’t question Del and he has provided the means,’ Mike sighed. ‘But I’ll have additional people on standby just in case his description of being thorough isn’t as good as mine,’ Mike stated. ‘But don’t worry, they are trusted people and the majority will still be in the dark when the performance takes place.’

‘What do I have to do?’ Jesse asked nervously.

‘Overdose, and I’ll do the rest,’ Mike stated.

‘Heroin?’ Jesse checked, and his breathing increased, clearly troubled. ‘Come on, I’m clean, I don’t want to go down that path again,’ he stressed. ‘I can’t,’ he panicked.

‘I know kid,’ Mike simply said with compassion.

Jesse took a deep breath, troubled by the suggestion Mike was making. ‘I’m not sure,’ Jesse started to say, and it was clear his anxiety was rising once again. Mike came closer sensing Jesse could need some support again so soon after his earlier episode. 

‘It won’t be like Jane, Grant will not wake up with you dead beside him, ok, it’s not the same at all,’ Mike stated calmly. ‘Now I’ve already said I’m not happy with the plan, but I’m also not happy that that slimey guy keeps getting into your head and your pants and hurting you, so we need to take the available options we currently have, agreed?’ Mike reasoned and Jesse numbly nodded his head. ‘Let’s use what happened earlier as our jump off point, let’s get the ball rolling so this can be over sooner rather than later.’

‘What do we need to do?’ Jesse asked.

‘I need you to let me administer the first drug, this can be done now and can be in your system for up to 2 hours before we administer the heroin, it will provide a core base in your system that will guarantee you overdose, ok?’ Mike remembered the instructions.

‘Let’s do this,’ Jesse psyched himself up, clearing his head.

‘Sit down on the floor,’ Mike instructed and saw the confusion on Jesse’s face. ‘I’m going to inject it into the foot, make it harder for anyone to detect.’

‘I’m not sure I want that,’ Jesse was shaking his head. ‘My arm is fine, come on I have no track marks,’ he continued.

‘In the foot, ok?’ Mike wasn’t going to let Jesse talk him out of it.

With Mike’s help Jesse sat on the floor and Mike prepared the first syringe. ‘We will administer this now and then take you down to the futon, we will time it that when Grant arrives it looks like you’ve started the party early and you will inject this,’ Mike gestured to the second syringe, we will dress the room to make it look like you’ve prepared the heroin.

‘And then?’ Jesse ventured.

‘You just have to play the role, appear to die but not die,’ Mike ordered as he found a spot to inject the first syringe.

‘Holly mother F-‘ Jesse screamed as Mike administered the first syringe into a sensitive part of his foot. Mike discarded the syringe into his bag.

‘Breathe,’ Mike instructed.

‘That hurt,’ Jesse said as he caught his breath.

‘Get dressed, and ready for the next phase,’ Mike helped Jesse up and walked with him back to the bedroom.

* * *

Walt walked out of the laundry, another cook done, and he checked his watch. He had finished and cleaned up in good time, and felt he was long overdue to visit to see how Jesse was getting on. He knew Mike had said the kid had plans, but it was still early, and he couldn’t imagine anything Jesse had planned would have started yet.

He got into his car, wondering if he should ring Mike first then threw his phone into the passenger seat with annoyance, since when did he need Mike’s permission to see his business partner? As he pulled away, he tried to fathom why he had a bad feeling, and he knew it was this situation with Jesse. The relationship with Grant should be a simple fix, get rid of the idiot, either scare him off or just literally get rid of him. Walt understood that Grant’s father was someone influential, that Gus didn’t want to get tangled up in a scandal but Walter reasoned that surely Grant’s father had more to lose, being a more well-known public figure with high up friends than Gus.

Fear overcame Walt as he followed that chain of thought, Grant’s father was the unknown quantity and Gustavo wasn’t making any moves to fix the problem, was that because he was allowing Grant’s father to do so. Jesse was mixed up on a situation where he could not win, Walt realised, stupid kid letting his crazy hormones getting the best of him. Did he really love that guy, they hardly knew each other, and Grant had shot him, what more of a warning sign did Jesse need?

Walt grew more agitated, he needed to talk to Jesse, talk some sense into him and get him out of that situation. Something felt very off and he didn’t like the influence Mike was having over Jesse, he would never trust Gus to have the kid’s best interest at heart and then it hit him, Walt had always said Gus couldn’t do anything to Jesse if he wanted him to keep cooking, but what if something supposedly outside of Gus’s control fixed the junkie problem Gus seemed to have? Walt hit the accelerator a little more as he navigated the streets to Jesse’s house.

* * *

Jesse nervously looked at the syringe, it was lying on the table amongst the other items that would support the story they were waiting to play out. He was sat on the futon whilst Mike stood at the window waiting for the return of Grant and Tyrus to signal the start of the performance. Shifting in his seat, Jesse fidgeted trying to dull the ache he was feeling in his shoulder, his right arm was still showing no sign of any feeling simply resting in the sling.

Picking up a cigarette and putting in between his lips, Jesse lit up and took some solace in taking a long-needed drag. His hand was shaking as he held the cigarette, Jesse stared at the syringe again and remembered Jane, that first time he shot up and he started to feel a long-forgotten hunger. He glanced at Mike, then back to the syringe before looking upwards, he wanted to shoot up now, he didn’t want to wait and it was taking all his strength not to grab the syringe and just do it.

‘Mike,’ Jesse spoke up.

‘It won’t be much longer,’ Mike responded, guessing what Jesse wanted. When Jesse didn’t respond he glanced towards the kid, anxiously taking some drags on his cigarette. ‘What is it?’ he checked.

‘I’m remembering the need,’ Jesse simply said his voice shaky, and Mike saw his gaze was fixed on the syringe.

‘Jesse,’ Mike warned. ‘Stay focused, you won’t get much of a high from this trip remember.’

‘Makes no difference,’ Jesse numbly said. ‘Just seeing that stuff on the table, the gear, brings it all back,’ Jesse stated before taking a deep breath, stubbing out his cigarette and then absently scratched his right arm in the sling. ‘Mike,’ Jesse then sounded more urgent.

‘What, kid?’ Mike asked agitated.

‘My arm, I can feel it,’ He exclaimed with surprise, and then there was a slight flicker of his fingers. ‘The feeling is returning,’ he beamed a genuine smile, and Mike offered a smile in return, the timing sucked but at least it was taking Jesse’s mind off the heroin temptation.

Mike then saw a car pull up outside. ‘Ok, it’s showtime.’

TBC


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse struggles get worse as he fights for his health and his sanity, but was he ever in control?

* * *

_Mike then saw a car pull up outside. ‘Ok, it’s showtime.’_

Mike moved to Jesse’s side and saw Jesse quickly remove his shirt and sling, to then affix a belt around his right bicep, he tightened it with ease and then picked up the syringe with a cold hard stare.

‘It’ll be ok, I have the third syringe right here,’ Mike assured him tapping his jacket pocket. ‘I’ll be in the kitchen, let Grant see you inject and then let’s get the ball rolling and over with.’

Jesse took a deep breath with a short nod of his head as Mike left the room. Jesse waited, holding the syringe and trying to supress the bad memories trying to flood his brain. The nerves had gone, and he tried not to think about the need that had replaced them.

He saw the door open, and in seconds Grant was coming in. Jesse needed no further excuse as he pierced his skin with the syringe, and he welcomed the release to finally inject.

‘Whoa! Jesse!’ Grant exclaimed excitedly. ‘Are you starting without me?’ Jesse heard him say but he felt the ice cold taking him over immediately. Jesse moved his hand to loosen the belt but before he could he felt a sudden sharp pain in his chest, felt himself gasping for breath and a strangle hold that set him into panic.

‘Hey Jesse, are you ok?’ Grant frowned seeing the pain on Jesse’s face, and he held his lover’s upper arms, feeling the struggle through his fingers that Jesse was fighting. ‘Jesse, come on, it’s ok, relax.’

There was a rapid knock on the door and in his panic, Grant numbly went to answer it, unsure what was happening to Jesse for what seemed the second time that day. He quickly opened the door and Walter White stood before him.

‘Where’s Jesse?’ Walter barked with irritation on seeing Grant.

Grant just looked panicked, conflicted about what to say before he just gestured to the futon, and Walt pushed past him and rapidly went to Jesse’s side with the plan to simple drag him out to talk to him but instead he found himself freezing in his steps. He saw the table first, with the assortment of syringes, the spoon, the plastic bags of drugs and he tried to understand what was happening. His eyes then slowly settled on Jesse and it took him a moment to realise Jesse was slumped unconscious at an awkward angle on the futon, his colour was wrong, and he was too still, far too still.

Immediately Walt fell to Jesse’s side and felt for a pulse, absently undoing the belt around Jesse’s bicep, still desperately trying to find a pulse. He began to slap Jesse’s face, panicked as he grew more anxious. ‘Jesse! Jesse!’ he began to yell frantically, shaking a very limp Jesse.

‘Get to the Pinkman house asap!’ Mike yelled down the phone as he entered the room and stopped in his tracks, seeing Walter White standing over Jesse’s body with Grant just looking on in clear shock. ‘Walter, what are you doing here?’ Mike demanded.

‘Stay back!’ Walt yelled towards Mike. ‘I should have seen this a lot sooner!’ Walt scooped Jesse up, and began to attempt to carry him towards the exit.

‘I have first aid training, Walter, let me check him,’ Mike stated as calmly as he could, but Walter kept moving. ‘Walt, stop!’

Walt looked at Jesse half falling out of his hold, he was too heavy, and his head was rolling with his eyes closed. There was nothing, and in that sickening moment, Walt realised that Jesse was gone, there was no more life in him. Walter felt the world stop, collapsing to the floor in agony, still trying to gently place Jesse beside him. Mike approached but Walt was hunched over the kid, almost protectively holding him as the shock hit him.

‘What’s going on, save him!’ Grant yelled to Mike loudly, hysterically.

‘He’s gone, Jesse is dead!’ Walt screamed, and the words almost caught in his throat as he said them, and he sat back, numbly shuffling away from Jesse, covering his eyes as he tried to hide his emotions.

‘No, no, no,’ Grant now collapsed to the floor and just stared wide eyed at the prone figure of Jesse.

Mike closed his eyes for a moment, knowing Walter was not supposed to have been a part of this. ‘Look, let me check,’ Mike approached, he glanced at the devastated Walt, and felt a twinge of guilt. He looked at Jesse, reminding himself he was just in a very deep comatose sleep and could be revived, he still had enough time to administer the final syringe but he wanted to do it sooner rather than later. He pressed a hand to Jesse’s neck, and took a deep breath to play the act he needed to do for Grant.

‘I’m sorry,’ Mike offered to the two anguished men around him, then watched as the door opened and four of his men came in, one of which was Tyrus who seemed shocked as he took in the scene before him. Mike got to his feet and turned to Grant. ‘Son, you better get out of here, you don’t want to be seen here when the authorities turn up, am I right?’

Grant was disorientated but the mention of authorities did the trick to make him realise he probably shouldn’t be there for that, he was beyond consolable as he numbly let himself be led out the house by one of Mike’s men. ‘Take him to this address,’ Mike hastily ordered Tyrus, as he wrote down Del’s address to look as if he’d just thought about it, all for show and before giving it to Tyrus to take lead on, Tyrus looked at Jesse for a moment and seemed lost in thought before he exited the house after Grant.

Once it was clear the remaining two men then crouched down by Jessie and began to cut the bandages across Jesse’s chest, moving him onto his back and checking his pupils.

‘Are you happy now?’ Walt spoke up with menace towards Mike. ‘Was this the plan, make me believe this was an accident? That Jesse self-destructed, so in love with that guy that he fell off the wagon, shot himself up and overdosed, do you think I’ll still cook thinking you had nothing to do with this?’ Walt yelled. ‘You killed Jesse! You hear me, I know this was you, you just happened to be in the next room, really? This was Gus’s master plan, wasn’t it!’ Walt sneered with grief etched on his face. ‘Well you know what, I quit, you hear me? I’m done! No Jesse, no cook! I’m true to my word!’

‘Calm down,’ Mike yelled back immediately silencing Walt who instantly looked in shock at his tone, before Mike turned back to the men still working on Jesse. ‘Is he ready?’ Mike calmly asked and the guys both nodded their heads, Jesse’s chest was exposed and ready. ‘Ok, here goes nothing,’ Mike took the third syringe and knelt beside Jesse.

‘What’s going on?’ Walt asked unsure, a little calmer. ‘You’re now making sure he’s dead, being dead not quite dead enough for you?’ he demanded bitterly.

‘Can someone look after him?’ Mike requested and one of the men moved to ensure Walt stayed back as Mike lined up the syringe, this one needed to be stabbed in and he couldn’t make any mistakes. Mike measured out the target point on Jesse’s chest, trying to ignore the distinct lack of movement, feeling the cold clammy skin beneath his hands. 

Mike brought back his hand and in one swift move he stabbed the needle directly into Jesse’s chest, above his heart and without hesitation he plunged the clear liquid into the kid’s body. A few seconds passed when nothing appeared to happen, a deathly stillness filled the room, until suddenly there was a huge gasp from Jesse and Mike stumbled back, immediately his two men went to Jesse’s side and began to administer additional care to bring him back, wrapping him up in a foil blanket as Jesse’s body began to fit.

‘He’s not dead?’ Walt checked with shock. ‘Jesse?’ he then called out about to go to his side, but Mike intercepted him.

‘He’s not dead,’ Mike simply said.

Walt narrowed his eyes and looked past Mike to see Jesse was breathing again, not totally with it yet but very much alive and seemingly responding to whatever was happening to him. ‘I don’t understand, he was not breathing, his heart had stopped.’

‘Deep comatose state,’ Mike sighed. ‘Grant’s father set it all up, he wanted Jesse gone but not gone in a way that Gus would potentially retaliate.’

‘Oh,’ Walt considered Mike’s explanation, still not entirely sure what had just happened.

Mike moved back towards Jesse. ‘Kevin, are we ok here?’ Mike asked one of the men treating Jesse, with some concern seeing Jesse still being treated with urgent care.

‘Not at all, levels are all over the place but he is breathing, but it’s laboured, give us another few minutes to try and stabilise him,’ Kevin spoke as he continued to work on Jesse with urgency. ‘Might have to give him another shot of adrenaline, also trying not to damage his shoulder but might not have a choice if he doesn’t start responding soon,’ Kevin frowned.

‘The kid had feeling return in his right arm just before this went down,’ Mike remembered.

‘That’s great, let’s hope this hasn’t knocked that back,’ Kevin sighed. ‘Jesse will need to stay under observation for a few hours, he still has the heroin in his system so not out of the woods yet,’ Kevin gestured to the work the other guy was doing. ‘I would say the instructions the other guys gave you for aftercare was not enough, dare I say I they didn’t really plan or care for him to survive.’

Mike considered the information. ‘I suspected as such, it’s why I brought you guys in.’ Mike turned to everyone in the room. ‘Make sure you get the kid comfortable, whatever it takes he has to live, I need to check in with Des Burley to make sure Grant has brought the story and never graces us with his presence again.’ Mike rubbed his face, looking tired as he glanced over at Walter, the guy looked just as exhausted with a mix of emotions on his face that Mike couldn’t quite fathom. ‘Sorry I couldn’t give you a heads up, you were not supposed to be anywhere near this place when this went down, genuinely, I’m sorry.’

Walt weakly nodded his head, then fixed Mike with a vacant lost stare. ‘I thought I’d lost him,’ he quietly spoke with genuine shock. ‘In all the time I’ve known him, knowing he did drugs, seeing him get beaten and shot he’s always just survived without me needing to truly worry, but tonight,’ Walt paused, unable to get the image of Jesse’s lifeless face from his mind. ‘I really didn’t know what to do with the concept that he had gone, it hurt, really hurt like losing one of my own family.’

Mike put a comforting hand on Walt’s shoulder. ‘Like I said, I’m sorry you had to see that, it wasn’t the plan and if I could have saved you from that I would have, ok?’

‘Sorry for those things I said, my old paranoia kicking into overdrive again,’ Walt offered quietly, tears forming in his eyes.

‘Already forgotten,’ Mike smiled. ‘For the record, Gus had no idea this was going down tonight, it was all Jesse’s idea via Grant’s father.’

‘Jesse was ok with it?’

‘He was desperate for Grant to be gone,’ Mike frowned. 

‘I thought they were in love,’ Walt mocked.

Mike fixed Walt with a stare. ‘He was abusing Jesse, Walt, pretty badly,’ Mike said with sigh. ‘This had to be done for Jesse, I wish it could have been done another way, but the kid agreed to this, for whatever reason,’ he simply said. ‘It won’t only be physical healing Jesse needs to deal with after this, we need to make sure he talks to someone, his head is not right at the moment.’

Walt’s expression froze as he stared at Jesse, still being tended to on the floor before him. ‘I’m glad Jesse was able to turn to you for help, you were right, I’ve not been there when he needed me,’ he said with some sadness in his voice.

‘He didn’t want you worrying about him,’ Mike offered, sensing Walter’s sadness.

‘I best get back, I don’t want to get in the way,’ Walt stated as he shakily stood up, and moved towards the door.

‘Why don’t you stop by tomorrow, Jesse should be awake, you two can talk,’ Mike suggested.

Walt nodded his head, taking another look at Jesse not really wanting to leave but with a brief smile he left the house, looking like a shadow of his normal self.

* * *

‘I am pleased to confirm the plan has worked, Grant is heartbroken and utterly convinced that young Mr Pinkman is dead, He’s already had a fake reporter scare him asking for info on an unexplained death, and I will explain to him that Pinkman’s line of business means his death will not be reported and he just has to let him go and move on with life, just in case he tries to find a funeral or other nonsense in his grief,’ Del Burley informed Mike over the phone.

‘Are you ever going to ask after Mr Pinkman’s health?’ Mike tested.

‘I trusted that he is well seeing as you didn’t begin this conversation in a mad rage?’

‘He is now, but it was touch and go for a short while,’ Mike stated. ‘He should make a full recovery despite the issues we faced, let’s say your instructions were hardly thorough.’

‘Remind him that he needs to keep a low profile and out of the public eye for the foreseeable future, I cannot have my son hearing about his parties or anything relating to him, he has taken his death very hard, if he ever discovered he was in fact alive,’ Del stressed without completing the sentence, feeling he didn’t have to.

‘Understood, your son has hurt Pinkman enough that I suspect Jesse will not have any problem in avoiding him,’ Mike stated. ‘I would suggest if you want to keep your son out of future trouble you try and teach your son about boundaries and respect, because if he ever lays another hand on Jesse Pinkman he will not be protected anymore.’

‘Are you threatening me?’ Del checked.

Mike rolled his eyes before responding over the phone. ‘I’m making you a promise, take heed.’

Mike cut the call off and walked back into the bedroom where Jesse was still unconscious with Kevin remaining to monitor him in the makeshift medical set up around Jesse’s bed. He was hooked up to a heart monitor, with an IV going into his left hand, wrapped up in blankets as his core temperature continued to fluctuate plus being fed pure oxygen through a mask covering his mouth and nose.

‘It looks worse than it actually is,’ Kevin spoke up after a moment, and Mike realised he must have looked unsure for the moment. ‘His body is still in a state of shock so just dealing with that, but it’s under control. He’s got strong signs,’ Kevin assured him.

‘Good,’ Mike observed. ‘Thanks,’ he then offered and took a seat nearby as Kevin began to check the bandages over Jesse’s shoulder, taking the opportunity to change them whilst Jesse was still out cold. Mike simply looked on as Kevin carefully cleaned the surgical wound and the bullet wound, finishing by putting on fresh bandages.

‘I was checking his records,’ Kevin then ventured. ‘I see he’s a recovering addict, I take it he was not sober before this incident?’

‘He hasn’t done heroin since before rehab, as far as I know, so we will need to keep an eye on him,’ Mike informed him.

‘I’ve given him a course of drugs that should lessen the withdrawal, and hopefully nullify any potential new addiction,’ Kevin stated. ‘Obviously, it’s still dependant on the individual as well but it should help,’ he added.

Mike sighed. ‘He was struggling just before,’ he admitted sadly. ‘But he should have enough eyes on him in recovery to help him.’

‘This was a very stupid plan for a recovering addict, I feel the need to say that as a medical professional,’ Kevin stated and Mike couldn’t disagree, it hadn’t been his plan and he did not want that to become a regret if he ever reached a point of being able to reflect on this whole situation.

* * *

Del burst into the office and saw Franko stood by the window looking out.

‘So, what went wrong? I thought I gave an order for Jesse Pinkman to die?’ Del raged.

‘Seems the boys personal security made sufficient arrangements to counter-act our plan, the boy lives,’ Franko mocked. ‘Trust me, I am a lot more upset about this than you.’

‘At least Grant believes he is dead, that’s the important thing,’ Del stated as he sat down.

‘That’s just one tiny victory in all this, don’t think I haven’t noticed that you are struggling,’ Franko warned. ‘I am your closest ally, Del, I need you at one hundred percent, we have built this empire up and I will not let it fall because you revert back to boy toys behind my back.’

Del glared at Franko. ‘You sick fuck, it wasn’t like that.’

‘Are you kidding me?’ Franko demanded. ‘You were messing about with a high school student, lavishing him with gifts and attention, are you really now trying to tell me it was all above board and nothing to worry about?’ Franko stated. ‘Have you even realised that Grant would have been roughly the same age as Jesse when you had that mad moment in your life, if you had known about Grant then, doesn’t that make you sick, feel some kind of natural revulsion, something?’

‘Yes! You are right, ok, I get it,’ Del stressed.

‘I don’t think you really do,’ Franko threw back. ‘I think I might have worked out who Pinkman works for, and I’m willing to let things play out for now but the minute it feels like Pinkman is going off script I will haul him back here and I will not take pity on him.’

‘You can’t just kill him, you know what might happen if we can’t prove without any doubt that we didn’t do it,’ Del warned. ‘That contract with his parents was pretty clear, there’s till two or three years left to run on it.’

‘You should never have signed that stupid contract,’ Franko spat. ‘The kids a junkie, Del, he could have died from an overdose at any time in the past few years and they would have pinned in on you, simply because you got him into the harder drugs! You know his parents have made little efforts to get him clean, they want the kid to die so they get rich!’

‘I had little choice they were going to expose me, us, our business!’ Del reminded him.

‘Yes, and because you told your boy toy everything, that stupid dick of yours almost cost us everything, never forget that,’ Franko stressed loudly.

‘Make sure Grant gets taken care of,’ Del absently said as he got up to leave.

‘In all seriousness, Del, if you want any chance to get close to your own son then now is a perfect opportunity, he’s hurting over Pinkman and you of all people know how that feels, at least put some of that to good use,’ Franko suggested.

Del looked at him and sneered. ‘You think I can even look my own son in the eye knowing what he did to Jesse? He’s already had his last warning, but I made a promise to his mother on her deathbed, so I will make plans for him to be sent to my sister’s house as soon as possible, she’s agreed to take him for a while.’

‘You’re packing him off to Italy?’ Franko checked.

‘He’s lucky I’m not sending him back to his mother’s family with nothing,’ Del stated and left the room.

* * *

Walt busied himself in the kitchen after a restless sleep, having eventually given up trying and sitting for most of the early morning in the living room nursing a cold coffee. He couldn’t rid himself of the image of Jesse from his thoughts, that moment of helplessness when he truly believed he had lost him. It had shaken him to the core, and he had not expected it to. It had started to put a lot of what they were doing into perspective, what he had done into perspective. Most pointedly it had forced him to question what he and Jesse represented, what they had done together and how far they had come.

He stopped for a moment, resting his hands on the counter and the thoughts hit him again. Remembering Jesse in his class, so many years before that felt like a lifetime ago now. Trying to imagine what he would have thought then if someone had told him how much Jesse would become a part of his life in the future, and in such a drastic fashion. Jesse had been a troubled teen, at first he had been so bright, attentive, young and wide-eyed, a late bloomer who genuinely tried and seemed happy, whilst he wasn’t essentially naturally bright, there was some untapped promise, especially with the practical work just less so with the written stuff. 

Things changed in a very short time, Jesse became suddenly withdrawn, angry and then just appeared lost, and Walt had tried a few times to reengage him but now suspected that he had fallen in with the wrong crowd, drugs had got him and the lack of support he got from his parents meant he was just cast aside quickly, the idiot child they couldn’t even look at. At the time Walt had been angered by his parents, he remembered that feeling clearly when he learnt they had sent him packing to his aunts, but soon after that Jesse failed his class and he had less contact with the kid. 

He heard various things in the staff room, interesting conversation titbits about how sad it was that a kid could fall so far, how Jesse was suspended more than a few times, kept getting into fights, he was out of control and in trouble with the law but then once he saw him graduate Jesse simply became another pupil he had once taught, never to be thought about again, until that fateful day when he was sat in the back of Hank’s car.

Walt sighed, and absently wiped down the counter before hearing movement within the house so he started to gather some bits and pieces to start breakfast. His thoughts wandered once more to Jesse, now an adult not a child. They hardly talked, he realised, they bickered and cursed each other, but actually talk, that was rare and something Walt hoped he could fix now that he’d had his wake up call and he wasn’t going to take Jesse for granted anymore. He was realising now just how important Jesse was to him, he was family and Jesse needed to know this fact, so he vowed in that moment that in the future any stupid half brain ideas like pretending to die would never be considered without his input ever again. 

The thought of losing Jesse hit him again, unsure what it was exactly that he was feeling but he knew his emotions were heightened again, so he tried to dismiss that thought from his mind.

‘Dad?’

Walt was jolted from his thoughts by Junior, and he turned to see his son staring back at him. Without word Walt moved toward his son and embraced him tightly, and for a moment he didn’t want to let him go, family had taken on a new importance after the events of the previous night.

‘I’m always here for you son, never forget that ok?’ Walt pulled away but keeping hold of Junior.

‘Ok,’ Walt Jnr returned, a little confused.

‘Everything ok?’ Skyler asked as she arrived at the kitchen to see her estranged husband clinging to their eldest son. ‘You didn’t sleep well last night, did you?’

Walt finally let his son go and offered Skyler a quick kiss, as he moved past her with a plate of pancakes he had cooked up. ‘Everything is fine,’ Walt responded with a strained voice.

* * *

‘Hold this,’ Kevin instructed to Jesse, now sitting up in bed. Wearily Jesse held the end of the bandage to his chest and then just watched as Kevin started to wrap it firmly around his chest and shoulder. Once done, Kevin secured the end and then sorted out the sling until Jesse’s right arm was resting correctly, and he saw Jesse looking at his arm. ‘Can you feel it?’

‘Yeah,’ Jesse stared at his arm, as he flexed his fingers showing the smallest of movements.

‘That’s great, we will need to arrange some physio for you in the next day or so,’ Kevin noted. ‘Keep it in the sling for now and keep trying to work on those movements.’

‘Ok,’ Jesse responded tiredly.

‘You want to lie back down?’ Kevin checked but Jesse just shook his head. ‘Ok, well I’ll finish off packing this stuff up so your room can return to being a normal room again.’

‘Where’s Mike?’ Jesse then asked.

‘Not sure, do you want me to get Tyrus? He’s just downstairs,’ Kevin asked.

‘Is my phone around?’ Jesse asked.

‘Just here,’ Kevin grabbed it from the side and gave it to Jesse who took it then dropped it to the bed, reacting as if it were too hot to hold. ‘What is it?’ Kevin asked.

’32 missed calls from Grant, last one 2 minutes ago,’ Jesse stressed and rubbed his face anxiously.

‘That’s odd, do you think he knows?’ Kevin asked.

Jesse took a deep breath, closing his eyes. ‘When Jane died, of an overdose, she was my girlfriend,’ Jesse tried to form coherent sentences but was struggling as the memories hit him. ‘I used to call her phone, to hear her voice, the voicemail.’

‘Wow, ok,’ Kevin took the phone and checked the notifications, seeing that Jesse was right, there were a lot of missed calls from Grant. ‘Let me take this, want to use mine to call Mike?’

‘Is that ok?’ Jesse agreed. ‘We’re going to have to ditch that one.’

Kevin handed Jesse his phone, having prepped it to call Mike before doing so.

‘Kevin?’ Mike’s voice answered.

‘Er, no, it’s Jesse,’ Jesse stammered. ‘My phone needs to be destroyed Grant keeps calling it.’

‘I’ll get onto that, I’ll be there in about twenty minutes,’ Mike informed him. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Ok, I guess, bit spaced, tired,’ Jesse returned, his brain felt jumbled. ‘Look, is there someplace else I can go, just for a short time,’ Jesse then asked with nervousness in his voice. ‘I don’t feel safe here, and with the guy calling my phone, what if he shows up?’

He heard Mike take a deep breath. ‘I’ll see what we can do,’ he simply replied. ‘Get some things together, you can stay with me tonight and we’ll set up something more permanent from there.’

‘Thanks,’ Jesse responded quietly.

‘Has Walter been round yet?’ Mike then asked.

‘Mr White? No, I don’t think so,’ Jesse answered unsure. ‘Not whilst I’ve been awake,’ he then looked at Kevin who understood the question and shook his head. ‘No, he’s not.’

‘Ok, I don’t know if you remember but he saw what happened, he saw you die last night,’ Mike revealed.

‘What? He shouldn’t have seen that, what was he doing there? He wasn’t there when I went under,’ Jesse stressed loudly and became animated.

‘I don’t know exactly, Grant let him in I guess,’ Mike sighed. ‘He thought you had died in his arms, he was pretty shaken up for a time.’

‘He knows it was just a show right, that I didn’t die?’ Jesse asked with concern.

‘He did, eventually, we had to string him along until Grant was removed from the house, but he was still pretty upset,’ Mike frowned.

‘Man, that should not have happened,’ Jesse looked upwards. ‘I’ll give him a call; does he hate me for doing that?’

‘His anger was aimed at me and Gus, more than you, although he was surprised it was your plan,’ Mike offered calmly.

‘He shouldn’t have witnessed that,’ Jesse repeated, clearly troubled. 

‘Call him,’ Mike advised and finished the call.

Jesse looked at Kevin who was already gesturing that it was fine to continue to use his phone, Jesse quickly checked his phone for the latest number for Mr White and dialled, it picked up after two rings.

‘Who is this?’ Walt answered.

‘Jesse, Mr White, they’ve only just told me you were there, I’m so sorry,’ Jesse stressed. ‘I never wanted you to see that, you shouldn’t have seen that.’

‘Jesse,’ Walter interrupted his flow. ‘Jesse, it’s ok, I’m just glad it was fake, ok? It’s great to hear your voice, it really is, you can’t know how good it is to hear it.’

‘God, what must you have thought, I mean I remember with Jane, so I know the panic,’ Jesse continued, his emotions rising.

‘How are you feeling?’ Mr White asked.

‘Not sure, really, I guess tired, spaced,’ Jesse tried to fathom his mood. ‘I’m moving out for a bit, don’t feel safe in this house right now. Think Mike’s putting me up until they find a more suitable place for me to lay low.’

‘Makes sense,’ Walt agreed, and Jesse watched as Kevin left the room with a box of medical equipment.

‘My phone is out of action, Grant keeps calling it, so it needs to be decommissioned,’ Jesse then noted and paused for a moment, suddenly feeling his emotions on the brink. ‘I really messed up this time, haven’t I? Maybe I should have just, I dunno, just died, yo, make everything easier for everybody.’

Jesse quickly manoeuvred himself to the edge of the bed and took the sling off to make it easier to push himself up. ‘Jesse don’t talk like that,’ Walt scolded firmly.

‘I just keep messing things up, yo, I can’t deal with all this stuff anymore my head feels like it’s going to explode,’ Jesse stressed as he walked to the bathroom, his eyes watering as he walked. ‘I can’t stop seeing Gale and Jane, they stay right there, and this fog, my parents just laughing at me,’ he cried, hitting his head with his hand as he tried to make sense. ‘There’s like fog or some shit, I can’t see through it and then I’m all chicken shit as some guy just does what the fuck he wants to me, and I don’t fight, I do nothing, like I want it, I enjoy it and this stupid arm,’ Jesse threw the phone across the bathroom in anger as he lost himself to his emotions, closing the door with a slam and locking it, Jesse sunk down behind it as he held his head, bringing his knees up to his chest as he let the tears fall. 

Gradually he sunk lower to the floor as he felt the door being hit, and he curled up to ignore it, he didn’t remember exactly when he started screaming and it sounded so distant to him as he continued to do so. The world outside no longer matter as he held himself tight, he needed an escape, he needed something to take him anywhere else and he just wanted to let go, to stop feeling the pain and hurt, and just end it. 

His eyes frantically scanned the room, desperate to find something, anything and they landed on the mirror. Staggering to his feet he stumbled the short distance and grabbed the side with his good hand, catching his reflection and seeing something he hated, his face was a mess. Bloated by tears, red from his own hysterics, pathetic he considered with self-loathing and he smashed the mirror to pieces using a pointless ornament close to hand, before collapsing back to the ground without a care for the sharp pains he felt when landing with the broken glass falling around him. 

His hands desperately searched for a shard of the mirror, the sharper the better and he held it tightly in his hand, pain and fear gone replaced by an uncontrollably desire to just finish what was started the previous night.

For a brief moment he heard noise from outside of his head, shouting and banging but all too quickly he returned his full attention to the shard and he placed it against his right forearm, turned upwards he just had to slice. Suddenly he felt rough hands on him and he panicked, he kicked and fought, struggling against the force that made him drop the shard and he felt the loss, felt the complete anguish of any control he may have had being snatched from him once again, and Jesse collapsed in defeat, destroyed and broken as the darkness took him.

* * *

‘I gave him as much as I could, he will be out for a couple of hours,’ Kevin said discarding the syringe safely, clearly shocked as he scooted back from where Jesse now lay collapsed in Mike’s hold. Mike looked upwards, now holding Jesse in his lap, it had been a long time since he had moved so quickly to ground level and he knew he’d feel that later, but for now he was holding Jesse tight and his relief was clear to see as he tried to keep a grip on his own emotions.

‘I left him for a minute, I don’t know,’ Kevin stated. ‘He was on the phone to Walter White and he was fine, then I come back up and the bathroom door slammed, and I just hear him scream,’ he recounted catching his own breath.

Mike remembered the frantic phone call he got from Walt as he parked up outside Pinkman’s house, he too said that Jesse was fine but then just flipped, if Kevin hadn’t just supported that Mike would have suspected Walt had said something to bait Jesse but now he wasn’t so sure. Jesse had been horrified for Walter to witness what happened, and Mike knew his head was out of sorts with the panic attacks he had witnessed himself, now he feared Jesse had finally been pushed over the edge.

‘Help me up,’ Mike instructed to Kevin and Tyrus who had kept his distance nearby. Mike kept hold of Jesse as the other two took his weight as he stood up. Once upright, Kevin and Mike gently took Jesse back to the bedroom. ‘Let’s assess any damage here and then let’s move him to the car, he needs to be away from this house for a while,’ Mike ordered. ‘Tyrus, once we’re gone organise a clean-up crew for the house, again,’ he rolled his eyes and Tyrus understood why.

Jesse was laid down with care and Kevin immediately surveyed the shoulder. ‘Thankfully no damage to the past injury,’ he stated as he scanned the right and then left arms. ‘Few scratches, nothing worrying, couple deep cuts on his hands that might need some closer attention,’ he continued and checked his torso, legs and feet. ‘Bad cut on his right calf, likely some broken glass still in that one so that will need cleaning, similar less worrying cuts on his feet, just need a good clean may be sore for a day or so.’

Mike took a deep breath, finally giving himself a moment to compose himself now Jesse was out of danger, once again. He considered his options, Jesse was without doubt staying at his house tonight, the kid was not going to leave his sight anytime soon but where then? Psychiatric hospital, he wondered but feared what nightmares Jesse would have to discuss, albeit in confidentiality could they really afford for more people to learn of the crimes Jesse was a part of, and Gus would never approve. He needed to bring a shrink to wherever Jesse would end up, a safe house, somewhere Jesse could relax and not be struck with his demons, away from temptations.

There was a frantic noise downstairs and in no time, Walter White arrived in the room, his attention drawn immediately to the prone Jesse lying on the bed being tended to by Kevin.

‘Is he ok?’ Walt stressed.

‘We got to him just in time,’ Mike assured him.

‘What happened?’ Walt seemed flustered and Mike gestured to him to follow him, and he led him to the bathroom that was still bearing the mess Jesse had made.

‘Kid got himself worked up, locked himself in here and broke the mirror, we reached him before that particular piece did any damage to his arm,’ Mike gestured, and found himself sitting on the edge of the bathtub, closing his eyes.

Walt simply looked at the broken glass, saw flashes of red staining on the floor tiles but not enough to concern him and then he looked at Mike. ‘You look like you need a drink,’ Walt observed. ‘I do too, I never ever want to hear the noise Jesse was making ever again.’

‘I’ve seen a lot of stuff in my time, dealt with a lot of lost causes but this is different,’ Mike spoke with pain in his voice. ‘This feels personal.’

‘We have to help him,’ Walter agreed.

‘Let’s get him to my house, get him settled then we can talk about a plan,’ Mike stated.

Walt looked at Mike with narrowed eyes. ‘Isn’t Gus going to have a say?’

Mike glared at Walter. ‘It’s probably best he doesn’t ever hear about this, wouldn’t you agree?’

Walt relaxed his stance. ‘Let’s get moving, whilst he’s still knocked out.’

* * *

Grant wasn’t sure exactly what he was doing, but it hadn’t taken long to find the information he had been looking for. Losing Jesse was an unbearable pain, and he had rerun those moments just before he died over and over, he didn’t have a chance to stop him, there was literally nothing he could have done and now he was gone, just like that. Was it love? He wasn’t sure and at times if he was honest it didn’t seem like Jesse was totally into him but he had a plan, he was going to make Jesse love him but that chance was taken away from him. Hearing his father talk about sending him to Italy had caused him to flee, just to clear his head, and not have to think about real life just yet.

He stopped outside a house, it looked nice and respectable, a good home he considered. It pleased him on some level, not that he knew much about Jesse, in fact he hardly knew anything and that’s why was now stood outside Jesse’s parents house. He approached the door and pressed the doorbell, a little nervous but determined.

The door opened and a blonde lady was stood there looking suspicious of him. She looked happy, and it dawned on him that she probably didn’t know, his father had mentioned that the people Jesse was mixed up with had covered up his death, that wasn’t right he considered.

‘Mrs Pinkman?’

‘Yes, and you are?’ she asked.

‘A friend of Jesse’s,’ Grant returned.

She looked surprised. ‘Oh, I’m sorry he hasn’t lived here for a while, in fact I’ve not seen him in a few months.’

Grant couldn’t hide the escape of emotion as he let her words wash over him. ‘You haven’t, oh no,’ he sniffed and brought his hand up to his face to try and control his emotions.

Mrs Pinkman however wasn’t sure why this stranger was suddenly crying in front of her. ‘I can tell you where you can find him,’ she offered.

That set Grant off even more, how had Jesse not seen his mother in so long. He seemed such a sensitive soul, why would he not visit his mother? This was something he had not been prepared to deal with.

‘Can I maybe come in?’ Grant asked.

Mrs Pinkman looked at Grant strangely. ‘I’m afraid not, I’m here alone and I don’t know who you are, I don’t recognise you,’ she explained. ‘How do you know Jesse?’

Grant composed himself and tried to appear less threatening as best he could. ‘We were,’ he hesitated. ‘We were in love.’

‘In love?’ Mrs Pinkman repeated. ‘You and Jesse?’

‘Yes, mam,’ Grant agreed. ‘Such a beautiful soul,’ he remembered softly.

‘Ok,’ Mrs Pinkman looked unsure. ‘I never realised he,’ she paused for a moment. ‘Had boyfriends. What happened, did you split up, is that why you thought he’d be here?’

‘What? We didn’t split up,’ Grant was confused by her question.

‘Oh, it’s just you used past tense,’ Mrs Pinkman offered.

Grant broke down, bringing his hands to his face as the tears fell.

‘What,’ Mrs Pinkman seemed to be nervous now. ‘What happened?’

‘He died, yesterday,’ Grant revealed between sobs.

‘Jesse is dead?’ Mrs Pinkman held onto the doorframe for support. ‘That can’t be true, I would have been told, authorities would have told me.’

‘He was messed up in some underground dealings, I don’t know what, drugs or something so they’ve covered it up, probably already six feet under in an unmarked desert grave,’ Grant sobbed. ‘I miss him so much.’

‘No, this isn’t true, no,’ Mrs Pinkman repeated sternly, her own emotions started to take over. ‘Please leave, please, get off of my property, you are a sick individual.’

‘I’m telling the truth,’ Grant realised he had probably messed up on the sensitivity front. ‘He overdosed just yesterday, heroin, it was so sudden, I’m telling the truth you deserve to know it.’

‘Heroin? Jesse never did heroin,’ Mrs Pinkman felt the need to point out.

‘I’m sorry but he did, he was in rehab just last year to get clean but sadly it didn’t help him,’ Grant remembered from his background check. ‘He’s gone, Mrs Pinkman, I’m so, so sorry,’ he offered sincerely. ‘I loved him, truly loved him.’

Mrs Pinkman looked lost as she just stared at Grant. ‘He can’t be dead,’ she spoke sadly.

‘I feel bad, you shouldn’t be alone right now, do you want me to stay until someone else comes home?’ Grant offered.

Mrs Pinkman looked at odds. ‘What is your name?’

‘Grant, Grant Burley,’ Grant answered.

‘Grant Burley?’ Diane checked, and saw him nod his head. ‘Are you related to Del Burley?’ she asked confused.

‘He’s my dad,’ Grant replied. ‘Do you know him?’

‘Only of him, his community work,’ Diane quickly answered, looking around to see if anyone was around. ‘Look, my name is Diane, would you like a coffee, maybe?’ Mrs Pinkman offered, and Grant eagerly agreed.

* * *

Mike prepared two mugs and then poured the hot water in. Once the coffee was made, he picked up the mugs and walked back through to the living room, handing one to Walter White.

‘How are we going to handle this?’ Walt asked. ‘He’s going to wake up soon, what happened earlier can’t be ignored or dismissed.’

‘Kevin gave me some pills that should help to keep him calm, along with the other painkillers he needs for recovery,’ Mike retrieved the medicines.

‘Keep him calm? You mean an antidepressant I’m guessing,’ Walt took the medicine in question, and checked what it was. ‘This will just turn him into a zombie, they used to try and get Walt Jnr to take these for supposed ADHD,’ Walt dismissed.

‘Maybe that’s what he needs right now,’ Mike considered.

‘He doesn’t need more drugs,’ Walt lightly argued.

‘What do you suggest then?’ Mike was genuinely interested to know.

Walt considered the question. ‘I don’t know, we talk to him, help him ourselves, he’s turned to the both of us in recent time so maybe that’s enough?’

‘You do understand the issues he’s dealing with, right?’ Mike sat forward. ‘Even before Grant’s abuse the kid has been traumatised after waking up next to his dead girlfriend, knowing he sent his own friend into territory that got him killed, fighting the real pull of heroin addiction and then being asked to shoot a guy, point blank range because you told him too, Walter,’ Mike explained. ‘He started using again and what did you do? Tell me, did you even notice?’

‘Hang on aren’t you the guy who less than two months ago was trying to kill him because Gustavo Fring ordered it? Don’t go all holier than thou on me, Mike, you are not a saint either,’ Walt argued. ‘Jesse had to kill Gale because you were about to kill me, and the only reason you didn’t kill me was because I dangled Jesse on a plate for you, remember?’

Mike sat back, Walter was right of course, but things had changed. ‘This won’t help Jesse,’ Mike remarked. ‘You and me, we have to be united.’

‘You make it sound like we’re his parents,’ Walt offered, and couldn’t hide his amusement, the day had been a taxing one for all.

Mike offered a wry smile. ‘Ok, lets listen to him, let’s talk to him but if he gets hysterical again, he’s taking those pills, understand? And we will find help for him, a shrink, someone.’

‘Understood,’ Walt agreed, and they were both silent for a time until Walt spoke up again. ‘I’m not completely ignorant of my part in his troubles,’ he hesitantly began. ‘And I know you think I’m uncaring, and part of the problem here, but I never meant for any of this, not like this.’

‘Answer me one thing,’ Mike considered with care. ‘Why keep the kid around at all? You use him as a bargaining chip, you say you won’t do anything unless he stays alive, the kid is a walking talking liability and a junkie, what is the deal there?’ Mike asked. ‘The two of you constantly bicker, there seems no love lost between the two of you but you have that kid so painfully loyal to you, so it’s a genuine question, help me understand.’

Walter smirked. ‘The bickering, the whining, the acting up it’s all just a front, it means nothing, it’s Jesse’s defence mechanism you must surely have worked that out yourself,’ Walt explained and saw Mike agree. ‘He’s loyal, he’s good at what he does and for the most part he’s reliable, yes, prone to stupid errors and his lifestyle choices will always be questionable but he has a good heart, and I guess keeping him around just means at least one of us has that because I’m not sure what road I’m heading down, but I need a Jesse by my side to try and keep me from becoming the monster I know I can be.’

‘At what cost to Jesse?’ Mike countered.

Walt considered Mike’s words, they stung more than he cared to admit. ‘Clearly that’s something I need to work on.’

‘How I see it, this happening is the wake-up call you’ve needed to try and repair the damage happening right now, and had it been left unchecked you were going to explode and Jesse would have been caught up in that mindfuck,’ Mike warned and had Walt’s full attention. ‘You would have both turn on each other eventually the rate things were going, and it would have destroyed you both, but he’s still young, Walt, he still has to live his life so just for once, think about him, think about how your actions directly affect him and his future.’

‘If you had told me that just a few days ago I wouldn’t have understood what you were trying to say, but I get it now,’ Walt frowned. ‘I can’t stop the path we are already on, the decisions already made that have got us to this point and they are on me, and yes, Jesse got out, got clean but I dragged him back in and maybe that wasn’t in his best interests. It was to save my family, for my benefit, I see that now, but would I change anything?’ Walt questioned, staring directly at Mike. ‘No, I wouldn’t, I couldn’t let Hank take a fall for what he did to Jesse in a moment of madness, and what Hank did to Jesse was my fault, he was reacting to something I did, so I fixed my error by asking Jesse to come back and drop talk of pressing charges, so you see how complicated this is?’ Walt questioned. ‘I can’t just let Jesse go because ultimately Jesse has also made his own choices as well to be in my space,’ Walt continued. ‘He’s not an idiot, he’s made more money than he ever would have otherwise, we’re partners and that will never change.’

Mike half smiled at Walt’s words. ‘You’re right, it’s Jesse choice and he’s made his choice time and time again, but he’s made those choices without ever knowing the full details, hasn’t he? He thinks his loyalty to you is worth something, but is it, is it really?’ Mike asked.

‘He earns good money, he’s good at what he does, he has a purpose with me,’ Walt surmised. ‘I need him working alongside me, I’m more productive and the cooks go a lot quicker if he’s around.’ Walt stated with passion. ‘Listen Mike, I didn’t pull some innocent young boy off the streets and introduce him to this big bad world, I know that’s how you like to justify it,’ Walt mocked. ‘It was Jesse who introduced me to this world, have you ever considered that in your judgement?’ Walt asked pointedly. ‘What do you think he’d be doing now if I hadn’t come into his life, because I can tell you, it’s likely he’d have been dead within a couple of days of us first meeting. Krazy-8 thought he had snitched on his partner Emilio for that raid I rode along on, and you know what happens to runners like him if it’s even suspected they snitched?’ Walt stated. ‘But you know what, you know the funny thing, to this day I don’t even know if it was him or not who tipped Hank off,’ Walt considered distantly. ‘I do know he was known to Hank before I even got involved with him, Saul Goodman knew him too, so let us dwell on that for a bit maybe?’

Mike sat back and sighed Walt sure could talk the talk, but he had given him some food for thought. Fresh information on Pinkman that he hadn’t been privy to that possibly changed the landscape a little, but he felt he understood the messed-up relationship a little better and that was a good take away from the conversation. Mike turned his attention to the TV deciding he had no further questions.

They had been silent whilst watching the TV for a while when Walt’s phone rang, and he answered it after a couple of rings.

‘Hank?’ Walt answered. ‘What? How did you hear about that, when?’ Walt questioned sitting forward and getting Mike’s attention. ‘Yeah, he was a former student and I may have brought pot off him one time, but I’ve not seen him since Skyler told me to stop,’ Walt paused as he listened. ‘That’s terrible but I can’t help you, I don’t know what Jesse Pinkman was messed up in, I literally just brought pot off him one time, it was just a weakness.’

Mike heard as Walt finished the call. ‘What’s happened?’

Walt looked a little shell shocked. ‘Jesse’s mother contacted Hank, she was told Jesse had died and wanted his help to try and get more information,’ he recounted. ‘She went to his house and found the bathroom in a state, the broken glass, blood, but thankfully nothing else so Kevin must had finished up before she arrived.’

‘A clean up team was supposed to fix that bathroom,’ Mike seethed.

‘It’ll be enough to get police crawling over Jesse’s house,’ Walt stated.

Mike got his phone and called Tyrus. ‘Tyrus, where are you?’ Mike barked. ‘Ok, be quick, police have been alerted and could turn up at any time, get it clean and get the hell out of there.’

‘So, it’ll just paint Jesse’s mother as being a bit crazy,’ Walt sighed. ‘Who told his mother that her son was dead?’

‘Grant, it has to have been Grant,’ Mike frowned.

* * *

Del answered his phone and froze when he heard who was calling. ‘Mr Pinkman,’ he stated.

‘Is it true? Is Jesse dead?’ Adam Pinkman asked on the other end in a hushed whisper.

Del paused for a moment before answering, it was imperative he handled this as neutrally as possible remembering their previous dealings. ‘I don’t know, give me some time to find out.’

‘Your son, Grant seems convinced that he is, he’s just left the house after speaking to Diane about it, she just called me at work,’ Adam stressed.

Del inwardly cursed, his kid was more trouble than he was worth. ‘Look, if he is dead it had nothing to do with me, understand?’

‘He said it was an overdose, and you remember the agreement,’ Adam responded.

‘Jesse continued doing drugs after that was signed, he never got clean and I believe you did very little to help him get clean, you’re sick, you know that?’ Del chastised.

‘I’m sick?’ Adam corrected.

‘Don’t go to the moral high ground, you think you have any right to go there? He still doesn’t know the truth, does he?’ Del stated.

There was a pause before Adam spoke again. ‘If he’s truly dead, well now he’ll never know, means nothing,’ Adam countered and Del took a deep breath.

‘I will fight you in the courts if I have to, this is not on me,’ Del snapped and killed the call.

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the lovely comments so far, especially the theories and the reactions - sorry for the cliffy! 
> 
> I really have enjoyed writing this story, but its also nice to revisit these early chapters as I post them knowing where I've taken it now!


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse is horrified to discover his parents have been told he's dead, and with Walt and Mike they come up with a plan to fix it.

‘Son, did you go and visit that junkie’s mother?’ Del Burley asked as they began to eat dinner.

‘You mean Jesse’s mother?’ Grant checked, and saw his father agree. ‘Yeah, I just felt she had the right to know.’

‘Idiot!’ Del yelled, slamming his hand on the table, causing the cutlery to shake. ‘You really think the company that junkie kept would want the police investigating his supposed death?’

‘What?’ Grant checked. ‘I never told the police, I’m not an idiot!’

‘His mother went to the police after your visit, wanted clarification and now I’m hearing rumblings that they are not happy, so am I expected to clean up another of your messes, is that what you wanted?’ his father yelled.

Grant looked annoyed. ‘I didn’t think she would do that, I told her what I knew, she shouldn’t have needed to do that, what more could they give her?’

‘Maybe a body, something to bury, she’s his mother idiot! Now she is hurting because of you,’ Del explained with frustration. ‘She threw him out when he was fifteen, Grant, she has got use to not having him around and accepting her junkie son for being the loser he was, but now, now all she wants is to properly say goodbye and do you think she’ll get that, do you think the police are going to not check further into his life and yes, that will include you, the guy who shot him shortly before he died?’

Grant hated when his father was so right about everything, he hadn’t even considered how messed up this could get because he thought he was doing the right thing. He had enjoyed talking to Jesse’s mother, he had not realised they were estranged, because she spoke so fondly about him but maybe that was the grief, and he understood that pain. When he thought about it she had seemed a little on edge as well, a weird guilt for talking about him so fondly. 

Grant had felt closer to Jesse after speaking to her and wished he could have stayed longer but she wanted him out of the house before her husband returned, whom she seemed to fear a little, in relation to Jesse maybe, but learning a little more about Jesse he wished he’d got to know more about him when he was still alive. The sadness suddenly gripped him, and he panicked momentarily, he could not let his father see him cry but it was already borderline as he stifled a sob.

‘Are you crying?’ Del asked.

Grant tried to hide his face. ‘No,’ he stammered.

‘Look I know you cared about the junkie,’ his father began, showing some small token of sincerity.

‘Jesse, his name was Jesse,’ Grant snapped.

‘Ok, Jesse, you liked him but come on,’ his father took a deep breath. ‘You need to move on, let him go, how about you go and stay with your Aunt in Italy, go and mix it up a bit, find some new faces to have some fun with?’

‘Not sure I’m ready for that yet,’ Grant stood up. ‘Sorry, but I’m not hungry.’

‘Don’t speak to the Pinkmans again, do you understand!’ Del yelled after the kid.

Del watched as his son left the room, shaking his head and just hoping his son moved on and quick.

* * *

It looked like Jesse was having a bad dream as he began to stir, light murmurs and anguish groans drew the attention of the two men to check on the younger man. After a couple of minutes Jesse’s eyes finally opened, and his breathing quickened for a moment as he got his bearings.

‘Jesse?’ Walt softly spoke.

‘Mr, Mr White?’ Jesse returned confused, disoriented as he tried to get his bearings.

‘You’re at Mike’s house,’ Walt offered, hoping it was ease Jesse’s confusion.

Jesse didn’t respond, instead he seemed to become very aware of his own body and tried to push himself up. Walt hurriedly helped him and found a couple more pillows to help prop him up, after a bit of fussing Jesse seemed settled and stared at his bandaged hands.

‘You cut your hands earlier, nothing serious, you’ll only need those on for a day or so,’ Walt offered, and saw that Jesse was checking his forearm. ‘You didn’t do it,’ he simply said and saw a flash of fear in Jesse’s features.

‘Is Mike here?’ Jesse checked.

‘I’m here kid,’ Mike spoke up from the other side of the room, in the shadows. He moved forward so Jesse could see him, not wanting to overwhelm him when he first woke up.

Jesse rubbed his eyes with his good hand and then tested the reaction of his right hand, glad to see if still moved slightly.

‘Do you need any painkillers?’ Mike asked.

‘No,’ Jesse answered and absently started to adjust his sling. The room felt very small suddenly as the three men remained silent, none of them wanting to be the first to speak about what everyone was thinking about. Jesse was still processing his thoughts, knowing what happened the day before was not normal, was not the acts of a sane man and he was afraid of what he had done, having both Walter White and Mike seemingly watching over him did nothing for his nerves. ‘When do these bandages come off?’ Jesse finally asked, moving his shoulder and feeling it was getting better finally.

‘The doctor will be here in the morning, I’m sure he will be able to tell you,’ Mike answered. ‘Are you hungry, thirsty?’

‘Water would be good,’ Jesse answered, he moved his legs and hissed in pain, removing the covers abruptly to see the heavy bandage on his calf, and some wrappings on his feet. ‘Made quite a mess I guess,’ he remarked to Walt, as Mike left the room.

‘Gave us quite a scare,’ Walter finally spoke up.

‘Again,’ Jesse realised. ‘Shit, you were on the phone with me,’ Jesse then remembered. ‘I’m sorry I don’t know what happened, I just, I dunno,’ he rubbed his face again in distress.

Without needing a prompt Walt scooted onto the edge of the bed and Jesse fell into his hold, resting his head against Walt’s chest, allowing Walt to hold him tight, the tears soon fell. He didn’t care what it might look like, he appreciated this hold, it helped and that’s what he needed, what they both needed Walt realised as he held Jesse close.

‘It’s going to be ok, Jesse,’ Walt soothed, and he glanced at Mike who returned with Jesse’s water, he put it down on the side and seemed to appreciate Walt’s efforts.

It was another couple of minutes before Jesse pulled away, Walt picked up the water and gave it to Jesse who silently took the water and took a few sips. Walt remained on the edge of the bed and took the glass back from Jesse putting it back on the side table.

‘What’s the time?’ Jesse asked.

Walt checked his watched. ‘Nearly 3am,’ Walt checked.

‘Do you have to cook in the morning?’ Jesse asked.

‘I should, yes,’ Walt realised.

Jesse seemed deep in thought for a second. ‘Can I come in with you? I mean once the doctor has seen me and all, but be good to just do something normal.’

‘Cooking meth is not normal, Jesse,’ Walt pointed out and was pleased to see Jesse offer a brief smile.

‘I think that would be a good idea,’ Mike spoke up. ‘I’ve not been told that you necessarily need bed rest, so why not get out there for a bit, there’s a couch in the office if you need to rest,’ Mike added.

‘It would be good to have you back in the lab, but you’re not going to work, ok?’ Walt warned. ‘Strictly there as a spectator, ok?’

‘Sure,’ Jesse agreed. ‘Has he continued to call my phone?’

‘Your phone is cut off, number disconnected, you will have a new one by morning,’ Mike offered. ‘I should also have a safe house for you by tomorrow afternoon, so we will get that sorted for when we’re finished at the lab.’

‘Will I be on my own in the house?’ Jesse asked.

‘Not a chance,’ Mike half grinned. ‘At least not for a few nights at least,’ he added quickly. ‘That’s ok right?’

‘Yeah,’ Jesse agreed, and seemed troubled for a moment. ‘I’m sorry about everything,’ he then offered sadly.

‘Jesse,’ Walt spoke up. ‘You don’t have to apologise.’

‘I’ve messed up, as always,’ Jesse sniffed and draw his knees up as he hugged his legs. ‘Just lately things have been so confusing, I’m seeing and hearing things that aren’t there,’ he offered, rubbing his face and in some distress. ‘I can’t forget, can’t move on, I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.’

Walt edged closer again, putting an arm around Jesse’s shoulders. ‘Let me help you, me and Mike are going to be here for you, ok?’

‘What about Gus, what about everything we’re mixed up in?’ Jesse asked, staring blankly ahead of him.

‘We’ll work something out,’ Walt considered, glancing at Mike. ‘You don’t have to worry about that, let me deal with that, you need to just focus on yourself, ok?’

‘Can I use the bathroom?’ Jesse then asked and Walt began to assist him as he edged off the bed. They let Jesse walk unaided to the bathroom but wouldn’t let him completely close the door, and Jesse didn’t object. Once done he returned to the bed and settled down once again, without needing to say anything it was clear he wanted to sleep again so Walt and Mike left him to it.

‘I’m going to try and get a few hours before my shift tomorrow,’ Walt stated and headed towards the door.

‘I’ll bring the kid along as soon as he’s clear from the docs visit,’ Mike agreed, as he saw Walt off and locked the door.

* * *

Del had been waiting patiently as Franko turned each page of a discoloured document, pulled from the archives. He was nervous, and on edge as he paced the room. Finally, Franko reached the last page, covered in signatures and he tidied the pages up into a neat pile and put it back into the archive box.

‘We should be ok, this is contestable so long as they don’t find out about Grant shooting Jesse, that could throw everything into murky waters,’ Franko advised. ‘And if it gets to that we have the joker in the pack, we just bring Jesse back to life and any case they have falls apart.’

Del nodded his head with some relief. ‘I keep forgetting the junkie is still alive.’

‘Why not just keep thinking he’s dead for your own good,’ Franko suggested getting to his feet. ‘It still amazes me that they sold their son so cheaply, the Pinkmans.’

‘They didn’t give a shit about him once their son was born,’ Del offered. ‘Poor kid just got discarded for the newer model the moment it was born; how do you think Jesse landed in my lap.’

‘Quite literally,’ Franko frowned. ‘Why did you do it, Del?’

Del looked distant for a moment, lost in his memories. ‘I was twenty-something, newly rich, could have anything I want, and he was just,’ he paused. ‘He really just wanted someone to see him, to notice him and take him seriously, he wanted to feel like a grown up instead of being treated like a stupid kid and I just got swept up in that notion.’

‘The feelings you had, they were real, weren’t they?’ Franko stated as he walked to the door.

‘More than you could ever know,’ Del simply said. ‘But now he doesn’t even know who I am.’

Franko put a hand on Del’s back. ‘Keep him in your past, Del, remember your beautiful wife waiting for you when you go home.’

Del smiled broadly thinking of her. ‘Franko, I need you to deal with Jesse Pinkman.’

‘For real?’ Franko checked as they walked along a corridor.

‘I can’t risk him staying alive, for my own sanity just please deal with him, any consequences will be worth it,’ Del stated firmly. ‘You have my blessing.’

‘What about his parents?’

‘Leave them be, they need evidence that Jesse is dead, and my worthless son won’t be enough to prove that, besides, he’s not dead right now, as you said, there’s no problem,’ Del smiled.

‘But when he does turn up dead?’ Franko checked.

‘If you really are that sloppy then throw them another million dollars, it seemed to work last time well enough,’ Del stated before heading into a meeting room.

* * *

Walter checked his watch and nodded to Tyrus that they had some time before they needed to do anything else. Moving to his locker he removed the safety garments and replaced them with his outdoor wear to go and get some fresh air. Lack of sleep and undue worry over the past few days were catching up with him.

He hadn’t been outside for more than a minute before his phone rang, it was Hank which always caused Walt a small concern.

‘Hank,’ Walt greeted forcing a smile on his face that he hoped fed into his voice. ‘Nice to hear from you, can I help with anything?’

‘Just checking in on my favourite brother in law,’ Hank joked. ‘Marie and I were wondering if you wanted to go out one night this week, it’s been a while since the four of us did anything together.’

Walt rolled his eyes. ‘Sure, I’ll have to check what Skyler’s plans are, can’t really vouch for her lately but I don’t see any problem with that on my side,’ Walt considered.

‘Yeah, I’ll get Marie to talk to her sister and firm it all up,’ Hank decided.

‘Was there anything else?’ Walt checked, sensing there was.

‘Yeah,’ Hank admitted. ‘Look this Pinkman kid, the shit stain that he was, even in death is causing me heartburn,’ Hank began, and Walt bit his tongue to avoid saying what he thought of Hank’s ridiculous observations. ‘Listen, the kid’s mother is bugging the department for proof her son is dead and they’ve ask if I can find out anything else about him from you, as his ex-teacher is there anything you might be able to give me, any detail that may help to work out what happened to the poor kid? We are turning up no leads at all from our sources, no one has seen him or heard anything about him, his friends are acting like he’s some mafia kingpin and saying nothing.’

As a parent Walt could feel some empathy for Jesse’s parents, his mum especially, no matter what he had previously thought of Jesse’s parents from his brief interactions with them at the school, not knowing what happened to your kid, even thinking he’s dead can’t be fun but he was amused by Hank’s total misreading of Jesse’s position in the scene, he was leagues higher than Hank would ever give the kid credit for.

‘As I said before, I don’t think I can help, I’m sorry,’ Walt responded then an idea struck him. ‘As his ex-teacher do you think if I pay her a visit, maybe explain the complex nature of the drug world if you give me some pointers of course, would that help?’

‘Walt you’re a genius, I know she respects you and I can feed you all the information about how dangerous the world is that her son dabbled in, that might just calm her down, manage those expectations on us if we ever find a body, you’d do that for me?’ Hank checked.

‘Of course, not a problem,’ Walt stated, although his intentions were to simply reassure his parents that Jesse was actually alive and they would be doing him a huge favour in keeping the DEA out of his business, scare them to stop them bugging Hank. At least that was his thinking at that point, whether it was a good idea or not was a different question that he had not had time to give more thought to yet.

‘Ok, oh and there’s another thing I wanted to ask, I have this chemistry notebook I wondered if you could take a look at it when you are next here? It seems to be formulas and instructions for some sort of meth lab, at least to my untrained eye,’ Hank explained. ‘Would love someone of your intellect to confirm or not.’

‘Oh, ok, where’s the notebook from?’ Walt asked genuinely interested.

‘Well the department are trying to ease me back to work slowly, giving me Mrs Pinkman to deal with and also giving me the evidence to mull over from a murder that happened a month or so back that they are drawing blanks on, I guess the chemistry notebook made them think of me with my Heisenberg investigations,’ Hank explained. ‘I’m not sure if its connected but will seem strange if this murdered chemist had a notebook filled with meth lab intel, don’t you think?’

‘Who was the victim, you said he was a chemist, would I know him?’ Walt asked.

‘Gale Boetticher, shot at point blank range in the head after opening his front door, horrible murder,’ Hank informed him. ‘There’s a right sicko on the loose, needs to be caught but have some new evidence yesterday, possible finger-prints of the killer so I’m just seeing if I can find anything else,’ Hank remarked casually.

‘Ah right, I don’t know the name but yeah, that does sound horrific,’ Walt conveyed innocently, then signed off and Walt put the phone back into his pocket. Suddenly fearful for what the new evidence would reveal, Jesse’s prints were in the system so if they had those it would mean Jesse might have to stay dead and that brings a whole host of new complications.

Walt looked over as he saw a car arrive and recognised it as Mike’s, he quickly went to it and waited for both Mike and Jesse to exit the vehicle. ‘We need to talk, follow me,’ Walt instructed to them both and walked to the other side of the parking area, out of sight.

‘Something wrong?’ Mike asked, as Jesse moved to stand next to him, his arm in a sling under his jacket, equally curious as to what had spooked Walter.

‘My brother in law is investigating Gale’s murder,’ Walt revealed.

‘Do we need to be concerned?’ Mike asked.

‘At the scene they found a notebook, the one Gale wrote down all the notes about the super lab,’ Walt explained. ‘He’s ask me to confirm if the notes inside it refer to meth, and I won’t be able to lie about it, not without causing suspicion if he gets a second opinion, and my guess is he will,’ he stated. ‘They also have some fingerprints that they think belong to the killer,’ Walt looked at Jesse.

‘Impossible, I didn’t touch anything, in and out,’ Jesse stressed confidently.

‘Did you pick up the bullet casing?’ Walt asked.

‘No,’ Jesse admitted, and his confidence wavered.

‘The other issue is his death,’ Walt gestured to Jesse. ‘Now if those fingerprints are Jesses, he’s on the system but Hank believes he’s dead so that problem goes away, but there will be an all new investigation as to why some ‘known to them’ meth dealing, recently dead kid, Jesse, killed a chemist who had a notepad filled with notes on meth making, it’ll add more weight to investigate Gale’s death as being linked to the Heisenberg and the blue crystal, and will no longer be viewed as some mindless act of violence, case unsolved.’

‘Hang on, why does your deadbeat brother in law think I’m dead?’ Jesse asked.

Walt frowned. ‘And that’s the other problem that has come to light,’ Walt sighed. ‘He knows from your mother, Jesse.’

‘What? My mother?’ Jesse checked, confused as he glanced between Mike and Walt.

‘It seems Grant went to see your mother to pass on his condolences,’ Mike chipped in.

‘What? No!’ Jesse gasped, and staggered back. ‘No, no, why did he do that? My parents? They think I’m dead?’

‘I’m going to go and see them, Jesse, I told Hank I would go as your old teacher and try to calm them down a bit, he wants me to give them a few lessons about the drug underworld they should know, to manage expectations,’ Walt revealed.

‘I don’t want them to think I’m dead, no, this is bad,’ Jesse stressed.

‘Hang on Walter, you can’t see them, you can’t get involved,’ Mike stated firmly.

‘The plan was never for me to stay dead, yo! It was only ever to throw Grant off my scent remember,’ Jesse argued to Mike, his concern evident. ‘My parents were never supposed to find out about this!’

‘Jesse calm down,’ Walt stepped closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder. ‘I figured if I go to see them and stress that it’s important that they stop making noises about you to the DEA we can imply you’re not dead and your life depends on them keeping quiet.’

‘That sounds a bad idea, Walt,’ Mike objected. ‘What if they just go to Hank with that info?’

‘They know Hank is my brother in law, they won’t see me as working against him but with him,’ Walt informed them. ‘They will assume what I tell them is coming from Hank unofficially, at least that’s how I’ll play it.’

‘That might work,’ Jesse considered, but still looking worried. ‘Why did I do this, this is all my fault again, I keep messing things up,’ Jesse began working himself up.

Walt took hold of both his upper arms. ‘Jesse, we will fix this ok, just keep calm,’ Walt spoke calmly sensing Jesse was becoming unstable again. ‘Take some deep breaths,’ he encouraged, and watched as Jesse took the needed deep breaths. ‘Ok let’s go inside, get the cook finished then make a plan.’

* * *

Mike moved to the office in the superlab when he saw who was calling him, he closed the door and was careful not to wake Jesse who was taking a quick nap on the couch.

‘Hello,’ Mike answered.

‘Is there something I need to be aware of?’ Gus questioned.

‘That depends on what you think you need to be aware of,’ Mike responded calmly.

‘What is the status of Pinkman?’

‘I’m looking at him right now, taking a nap on the couch in the lab, the cook finished about twenty minutes ago,’ Mike answered.

‘So, he is alive?’ Gus asked. ‘I’m hearing reports he had died, overdosed.’

‘Those reports are greatly exaggerated,’ Mike simply replied.

‘Was this part of the plan to get the Grant kid to split?’ Gus asked.

‘It served a purpose,’ Mike answered. ‘Jesse did overdose but help was on hand immediately and he’s fine now, seemed Grant picked up a fake bad batch and Jesse didn’t realise,’ he lied.

‘Why did we need a clean-up team to go to Jesse’s house a couple of days later after the first time?’

‘His mother was snooping around and we didn’t want her to find anything that would alarm her, the house has been in a bit of a state lately, so was just being extra careful,’ Mike lied again, and when he looked at Jesse, he saw the kid staring back at him keeping quiet, but now awake.

‘So, I have absolutely nothing to worry about, Pinkman is back in the lab and I assume still in need of the safe house you’ve secured for him?’ Gus asked.

‘Just for the time being, until things settle down, do you want to talk to him?’ Mike offered, ignoring the panic on Jesse’s face suddenly.

‘Yes,’ Gus surprised Mike but he walked slowly to Jesse and handed him the phone.

‘Hello?’ Jesse answered unsure.

‘It’s good to hear your voice, Jesse, I trust you are well and feeling much better?’ Gus asked.

‘Yeah, thanks for everything, the medical stuff and helping me,’ Jesse stated, staring daggers at Mike. ‘It’s good to be back on my feet, had a few bad days.’

‘So it seems, I don’t think I really need to tell you that you are on your final warning, I cannot have any more aggro involving you and my business, is that understood?’ Gus warned.

‘Yeah,’ Jesse agreed numbly, and the phone went dead.

‘Everything ok?’ Mike checked seeing the kid was unmoving, he took his phone out of his hand.

‘Yeah, just being told that’s my final warning by a guy like Gus feels pretty damn real,’ Jesse admitted, and rubbed his face.

‘Don’t worry about him,’ Mike reasoned. ‘We have bigger problems with Walt’s brother in law and your parents.’

‘Don’t remind me,’ Jesse took a deep breath, keeping his head down as he sat on the sofa.

The door to the office opened and Walt walked in, wearing normal clothes and ready to go. ‘What’s going on, did something happen?’

‘Gustavo called, asking about Jesse,’ Mike answered.

‘He spoke to me, told me that’s my final warning,’ Jesse added clearly troubled.

‘Hardly a surprise,’ Walter stated. ‘Think yourself lucky you still have a final warning after what happened with Gale,’ he added, and Jesse flashed him a glare before looking down again. ‘Nothing has changed Jesse, I’ve said since that time that we are under threat, Mike you would agree right?’

Mike looked at Walt, then to Jesse, he could see quite clearly that Walt was manipulating Jesse’s fear to turn this into something that would eventually become a them verses us situation. ‘Whatever Gus’s plans are, they should not concern you. My advice to you is keep you head down and give Gus no more reasons to doubt you or to deal with either of you. You do that, and we have no problem here.’

‘Jesse,’ Walt spoke up and knelt in front of Jesse, still sat on the sofa, putting his hands onto Jesse’s knees. ‘We need to stick together, ok, there’s nothing to be worried about if we have each other’s backs.’

Jesse simply nodded his head to agree, both missed Mike rolling his eyes and looking away from them.

‘So back to the actual problems in hand, Walter what are your plans with Jesse’s parents?’ Mike asked.

‘I’ve been thinking about that,’ Jesse spoke up first before Walt had a chance. ‘Why don’t I go and see them, with Mr White?’ Mike narrowed his eyes towards Jesse, encouraging more explanation. ‘I’ll tell them what Grant did, I mean he shot me first off and I have proof of that, and then they can explain to Mr White’s psycho brother in law that it’s all a misunderstanding, right?’

‘Well that works but what if your fingerprints are connected to Gale, you’ll be showing Hank that you are still alive,’ Walt argued.

‘What if it’s not my fingerprints?’ Jesse countered. ‘We don’t know that they found anything with my fingerprints on, I told you that I was in and out, yo, I keep saying.’

‘Nothing like showing up on their doorstep to convince a mother that their kid is still alive,’ Mike reasoned.

Walt stood up and considered the facts, seemingly playing out the situation in his mind. ‘I shouldn’t be there, I’ll tell Hank I plan to go over sometime this week, but Jesse can beat me to it,’ Walt considered. ‘We then keep Jesse out of sight as soon as he’s done at his parents until we know what the DEA have uncovered with the fingerprints, just in case.’

‘Is that ok, kid?’ Mike checked seeing Jesse not responding.

‘Yeah,’ Jesse agreed. ‘Just last time I saw my parents I kind of stitched them up over the sale of Aunt Ginny’s house.’

‘Right now, they think you are dead, Jesse,’ Walt pointed out. ‘They’ll be pleased to see you.’

‘You don’t know my parents,’ Jesse responded darkly then took a deep breath, nodding his head. ‘But I can do this, I just might need something before I do.’

‘That’s not going to happen,’ Mike warned, picking up on what something Jesse was inferring too and in his condition that was all types of bad.

‘Come on, yo,’ Jesse whined.

‘You heard the doctor this morning, you need to stay clean during your recovery, preferably just stay clean period, kid, you’re taking meds for withdrawal, don’t mess it up,’ Mike stated tiredly as Jesse pulled a face but didn’t argue.

‘How did the check-up go?’ Walt asked.

‘Bandages are off my hands,’ Jesse waved to demonstrate. ‘Everything else is finally healing, need to start physio on the hand and shoulder,’ he then added.

‘That’s great,’ Walt enthused.

‘So, when do I go and see my parents?’ Jesse asked with a sigh.

‘If I go and see Hank this evening, to look at this notebook and let him know my loose plans to see your parents, you can go anytime in the next couple of days,’ Walt suggested.

‘Can I go later this afternoon?’ Jesse shrugged. ‘Rather get it over with.’

‘We have a plan,’ Mike decided. ‘I’ll drive the kid over there, and provide the moral support which will not involve any alcohol or drugs, understood?’

Jesse glared at Mike and got to his feet, and all three of them left the lab.

* * *

Grant looked at the suitcase, filled with a selection of clothes packed by one of the house staff and he wanted to throw everything across the floor. He hated that he was being forced to go to Europe and pretend nothing happened, it wasn’t fair, he was still hurting and wanted to just be left alone. 

The only peace he had felt lately was from his talk with Jesse’s mom and he longed to be in that moment again, in a few hours he’d be flying to Italy, this could be his last chance to find a small bit of peace before he goes. Maybe he could get a photo or something to remember Jesse by from his mom, it wasn’t much to ask surely.

Looking at the window he only hesitated for a few moments before easily escaping his room and disappearing into the gardens, he would be back before anyone noticed.

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally forgot to mention in previous chapters that being from England some of my spellings will be English, rather than American English - hopefully not too jarring but worth mentioning lol
> 
> thanks as ever for reading!


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse visits his parents... things don't go to plan...

Mike pulled up a short distance from Jesse’s parent’s house and killed the lights and engine. He glanced at Jesse who had been silent for the entire journey which had begun to concern him.

‘You don’t want your parents to think you’re dead, kid,’ Mike softly said to break the silence.

‘I don’t know,’ Jesse considered quietly. ‘Maybe it’s not such a bad thing, one less thing for them to worry about.’

‘I know the pain of losing a child,’ Mike said solemnly. ‘I’d wish it on no parent, no matter how bad they might have been.’

Jesse looked at Mike with care. ‘Sorry, I didn’t realise.’

‘It’s not something I like to talk about much,’ Mike frowned. ‘Look, I don’t know what happened with you and your parents, I’m sure it’s not clear cut on either side but you know it’s not right that they think you are dead,’ Mike stated. 

Jesse did a heavy sigh, clearly at odds. ‘Of course, I know that,’ he accepted. ‘It’s just, I’m worried about me, my reactions, I’ve not been exactly stable lately and I don’t know if seeing my parents might trigger something, I don’t know if I can trust myself to keep it together.’

‘You have your new phone, call my number now and keep it live, I can listen in and if I sense you’re struggling I will come and get you, does that help?’ Mike offered.

Jesse seemed to relax. ‘Yeah, that would be good,’ he agreed and dialled Mike’s number. ‘Here goes,’ he stated and opened the passenger door and got out, walking the distance briskly to his parent’s house. 

He paused for a moment before heading up the path, he stopped and closed his eyes briefly, suddenly panicked, before checking his sling was sitting right and then knocked on the door. He heard footsteps on the other side before the door swung open.

His father froze on seeing Jesse. ‘Jesse?’ he simply said.

‘Hey Dad, can I come in?’ Jesse asked, his voice weak suddenly and in need of water.

‘Come in, come in,’ he gestured quickly, looking around the street as Jesse walked inside, and his father quickly closed the door behind him. ‘Diane!’ he yelled loudly. ‘Come quickly you need to see this!’

Jesse simply stood there as his father awkwardly looked at him unsure.

‘You hurt your arm?’ His dad asked.

‘It’s in a sling, yeah,’ Jesse simply pointed out the obvious clue.

‘We thought you were-‘ his dad began.

‘I know,’ Jesse shrugged before he could finish. ‘You were told I was dead,’ he took a deep breath.

‘Diane, where are you?’ his dad suddenly yelled again, a weird look on his face which confused Jesse.

‘I’m coming, Adam, whatever is-‘ Diane Pinkman froze at the door, never finishing her question. ‘Jesse?’ she whispered in shock.

‘Hey mom,’ Jesse offered, a little awkwardly on seeing her shocked expression.

‘Mind his arm,’ his father motioned as his mom raced towards him, she hesitated for a moment before Jesse offered his good side for a half hug.

‘Sorry Mom, you should never have been told what you were told,’ Jesse stressed as he buried his face into her shoulder. ‘I need to tell you about that guy who came over, he should never have said what he said.’

‘Come through to the living room,’ his father gestured. ‘Do you want a drink or something to eat?’

‘Some water would be good,’ Jesse requested politely, and let his Mom walk him through to the living room, where they sat down. ‘Is Jake here?’

‘No, he’s been to band camp this week, flies home tonight, we will be picking him up in a few hours,’ his Mom answered. ‘We had withheld telling him about you, I’m so glad we did, Jesse, this was the last thing we expected.’

Jesse saw the tears in his mother’s eyes and wanted to kill Grant for what he put her through. ‘I’m ok, Mom, honest, I’m here, I’m really here.’

His father returned with the water and offered it to Jesse who took some needed sips. ‘So, was anything that man said to your mother true? He said you were lovers?’

Hearing his dad speak so matter of fact about Grant in that way completely threw Jesse, they’d never really discussed relationships like this, and he was surprised to find his father so open about discussing it now. He was unsure how to really answer and hesitated for a moment.

‘It doesn’t matter to us, you don’t have to worry,’ his mom reassured him, seeing him stalling a little. ‘Not like it is the first time, is it?’

‘What?’ Jesse questioned in shock.

His mother flustered. ‘I mean I’m sure there’s been others,’ she stated. ‘Relationships, that we don’t know about,’ she added quickly.

Jesse’s mind was exploding, for so long these two represented all that was unreasonable in the world, but they find out their son is in sleeping with men and they seem the most open minded parents you could wish for. ‘We had relations, of sorts,’ Jesse attempted to explain. ‘It was a bit one sided when it came to being-,’ Jesse hesitated before finishing, avoiding making eye contact. ‘-lovers.’

‘I see, so are we talking more a stalker, someone obsessed?’ his mom sighed and glanced at his father.

Jesse shrugged, staring intently at the glass he held that he missed his parent's glances. ‘I guess,’ he agreed.

‘He did seem a little bit creepy when he spoke about you, and being a Burley that’s no surprise,’ his Mom admitted dimissively.

‘What?’ Jesse caught. ‘You know him?’

Diane looked a little flustered once again, and his father was getting annoyed at her, he could tell. ‘Well, no, I know of his father, Del Burley, surely you know who his father is Jesse?’ she asked.

‘Oh, yeah, well I do now, I met him briefly the other day,’ Jesse responded, still a little caught out.

‘You saw Del Burley the other day? What did he say, are you sure it was Del Burley?’ Adam now asked.

‘We just spoke, he warned me off his son, and rightly so,’ Jesse returned, not understanding the sudden interest in Del Burley.

‘And that’s the only time you met him?’ Adam checked.

‘Yeah,’ Jesse couldn’t hide his confusion.

‘Good, that’s good, I mean, I hear bad stories about that man, you’re best keeping away from him,’ Adam suggested.

‘Ok,’ Jesse took a deep breath, focusing his breathing and trying to keep it together. ‘Look, his son, Grant is crazy, he found me at a bad time and,’ Jesse paused, this was not something he was finding easy to discuss with his parents and he took a deep breath. ‘The guy shot me,’ he said bluntly.

‘What?’ both parents seemed to exclaim at the same time.

‘My arm is in a sling because I was shot by Grant,’ Jesse indicated. ‘Got me in the shoulder.’

‘Grant Burley shot you?’ Adam double checked and Jesse nodded his head.

‘That man I let into this house, who claimed his undying love for you, he shot you?’ his mother repeated, she was struggling with the news, Jesse could tell.

‘It was an accident, but I’m ok, I got attended to quickly,’ Jesse explained.

‘Had something happened between you that caused him to do that, was he angry at something you did?’ his father attempted to understand.

Jesse felt something explode inside him, was his dad really suggesting it was his fault? Suddenly feeling like that dumb kid again, the tone of his dad’s voice, a trigger had been activated within Jesse that had been dormant for years. ‘Don’t make this my fault!’ Jesse returned sharply. ‘Why do you do that? Every time, yo, Jesse gets shot must be Jesse’s own fault, fuck sake,’ Jesse got to his feet quickly suddenly worked up and paced the room.

‘Language,’ his father warned.

‘Jeez Dad I’m not a teenager anymore!’ Jesse snapped.

Jesse’s mom got to her feet. ‘Ok, let us just calm down a second,’ she soothed and both men took a moment to compose their thoughts.

Jesse visibly relaxed before speaking in much calmer tones. ‘It was the first time I’d met him, he’d been coming onto me pretty strong and my friends asked him to back off and they tussled and I don’t know, a gun was suddenly there and in the scuffle with my friends it fired and I got hit,’ Jesse sighed, only vaguely remembering the incident.

‘That is not normal behaviour, did this happen at your house, Jesse?’ his mom asked calmly.

‘Yeah, in the living room, look remember that bit when I said the guy was crazy?’ Jesse reminded them. ‘Look, I doubt he’ll come around again but on the mad chance he does you have to just get rid of him, definitely do not let him in, play along with the I’m dead thing, just so he goes away, ok? Quit getting the DEA involved, ok?’ Jesse looked at his Mom and then his Dad but there was something in the way his father was now looking back at him that unnerved Jesse.

‘Ah, I see, that’s what this is about, the fact your mother called that guy at the DEA,’ his father spoke evenly. 

‘Oh, you are kidding me,’ Jesse rolled his eyes, the trigger that his father controlled coming back into operation. ‘I’m here because I heard that you thought I was dead, and maybe, just maybe I didn’t think that was very nice for you to think and I came here to set the record straight, so here’s a thought, you now won't think I am dead for the rest of your lives!’ Jesse yelled. ‘You sure seemed happy a little while ago with the fact I wasn’t actually dead, so I think I did something right, no?’

‘How did you afford to buy Aunt Ginny’s house? Even at the lower price that was still a lot of money, and in cash, for someone like you to just have at his disposal,’ his father was now stood up, challenging Jesse.

‘Don’t do this,’ Jesse took a deep breath, trying to remain calm on seeing his father’s stance. ‘I’m here because some fucked up crazy guy visited this house and told you I was dead; I’m fixing that ok?’

‘How come the DEA couldn’t find you?’ his father pushed, coming closer to Jesse who backed away.

Jesse was feeling the pressure, he could feel his breath shortening and he started to panic. ‘I’m really struggling right now can we not do this?’ Jesse quietly asked and closed his eyes to try and focus.

‘Jesse, we deserve to know the truth, dear,’ his mother soothed from where she remained sitting.

‘Do you?’ Jesse questioned. ‘Look, I’m alive ok? I’ve done what I wanted to do here so I’m going to go,’ Jesse announced but his father physically stopped him by putting an arm across his chest. ‘What the hell,’ Jesse tried to move past his father who got a stronger hold on him.

‘I called the DEA when I was getting your water,’ his dad informed him, easily containing Jesse as he tightened his grip.

‘What?’ Jesse asked in shock, he could not fight his way out, he knew that already. ‘Look, I’m not America’s most wanted, why would you do that? I’m not wanted by the DEA!’ Jesse stressed but couldn’t hide his panic. ‘They won’t touch me after one of their more respected agents put me in the hospital a few months back so what’s the point?’ Jesse yelled.

‘What are you talking about, Jesse?’ Jesse’s mom questioned, sounding annoyed.

Instead of answering his mother’s question Jesse simply rolled his eyes and began to properly wriggle out of his dad’s hold despite his injuries, and it was becoming harder for his dad to contain him as he continued. ‘Let me go!’ Jesse yelled with frustration, and then felt a sharp pain across the left side of his face momentarily dazing him, as he stumbled in his father’s hold, who barely kept him on his feet.

‘Something is going on with you Jesse, and it’s time to stop, it’s time for to take stock of whatever mess your life is,’ his dad stated loudly, shaking Jesse to get his attention. ‘You could not have possibly had $400,000 in cash to buy that house legally, and I’m sorry Jesse, this is one final intervention for your own good! We know you have a history with drugs, and possibly the drugs trade and it’s time we found out the truth!’

Jesse’s head cleared only slightly but he felt his lungs tighten, and his head still spinning as he tried to focus on how to deal with this. He grabbed at his phone, could hear Mike yelling but he could not make out the words as he gasped for air and panicked.

‘Jesse, stop messing about!’ His father was still holding his arms, supporting most of his weight now as Jesse stumbled. ‘It’s for your own good.’

‘No, Dad,’ Jesse managed as his face crumpled with emotions, there was so much noise in his head as the room seemed to shift. ‘I came here because of that monster, what he said to you wasn’t right, I had to fix that, why are you doing this?’ he wailed, all emotions crashing to the surface. ‘Let me go!’

They heard the doorbell ring and his mother quickly went to answer it, and in the distraction Jesse broke his dad’s hold on him and bolted out of the room, running blindly into the kitchen trying to avoid the walls and failing for the most part, as his dad gave chase. ‘No, Jesse, don’t run, for once in your life stay and face them!’ he yelled after Jesse.

They both froze when they heard his Mom exclaim the name ‘Grant!’ as she opened the door.

In panic Jesse stumbled back into the kitchen table, falling to the ground. ‘No, no, no,’ Jesse immediately panicked, and his dad retook hold of him. ‘I can’t see him, I can’t, please dad, please,’ he stressed, gripping his dad’s shirt in desperation, his breathing was short and rapid now, a light sheen across his skin with his face showing nothing but pure fear.

‘Just calm down, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think,’ his dad stated strongly, seeing the signs of a black eye forming where he had hit his son, blood trickled down from a cut above his eye, and his dad felt sudden guilt looking at how troubled Jesse looked in this state.

‘He raped me, dad,’ Jesse blurted out with fear, the intensity in his eyes taking his father aback. ‘He nearly killed me, don’t let him, please help me,’ Jesse stammered then collapsed further back, and his dad lost the grip he had on him, as Jesse scrambled away in blind panic to find any hiding place in the kitchen.

Stunned upon seeing the raw emotion of his son panic stricken and displaying pure fear, Adam's own anger built on hearing Jesse’s words repeating in his head, he swiftly turned and headed straight to the door where his wife was trying very hard to get Grant to leave them alone. Jesse’s dad marched straight up to Grant and grabbed his shirt forcibly pushing him back and leading him into a wall.

‘What’s going on! Why did you hurt, Jesse? Tell me the truth!’

‘I loved him!’ Grant stressed with sudden fear at the rage he saw in the man’s face.

‘You piece of shit!’ Jesse’s dad lost control and with three successive right hooks across Grant’s cheek floored him momentarily. ‘Don’t ever come back to this house, you hear me! Leave us alone! Tell your dad we will be in touch!’

Grant held his bettered cheek and quickly got to his feet, fear in his eyes as he backed away then turned and ran back to his car, making a hasty retreat.

‘Adam?’ Diane asked.

‘Jesse is finally broken, Diane, it’s finally happened, we need to get him committed and then speak to our lawyers,’ Adam simply said and they both hurried back to the kitchen. They stopped on seeing the back door was open, and Jesse was nowhere to be seen. ‘He was in no fit state, he couldn’t have,’ Adam spoke out loud and hurried back to the front door and ran out into the front yard looking around.

He saw Jesse being put into a darkened car, someone had come and taken him, but they were parked too far away as the lights switched on and the car quickly sped away.

‘Adam?’ Diane was crying. ‘What just happened? Where did Jesse go?’

‘He just doesn’t know when to stay down,’ Adam held his wife close as he found himself once again cursing Jesse for being the problem child he always saw him as.

A couple of black SUVs then came to stop outside the house and a few DEA agents got out and headed towards them.

‘Sorry, he bolted, he told us nothing,’ Adam simply said.

* * *

Walt thumbed through the notebook again and shrugged. ‘I mean it’s pretty standard stuff, yeah there’s some points that touch on the production of methylene for sure but to be honest there’s a whole bunch of other crazy stuff in here as well, this guy sounds a bit nuts,’ Walter offered, thankful that Gale’s wild spirit had culminated in the very colourful notebook of many different muses, alongside notes from the lab.

‘Thanks for taking a look at it, Walt, and confirming my suspicions,’ Hank appreciated. ‘And yeah, I can buy into the theory the guy was nuts, you should see some of the other stuff we found, music videos and the like,’ Hank smiled.

Walt watched as Hank checked his phone after it buzzed, and his expression intrigued Walt, knowing what Jesse was up to and wondering if word had reached Hank’s office yet.

‘Something up?’ Walt ventured when Hank didn’t speak, instead seemingly engaged with a long text message.

‘Strange, seems that Pinkman shit stain is still alive, went to visit his folks earlier,’ Hank frowned.

‘That is good news, right? Saves me a trip at least,’ Walt tried to sound positive.

‘Great for his parents I guess, means I still have that shit stain in my town, however,’ Hank jested. ‘Odd, his father called it in and requested the department bring his son in, said he was sure his son was involved in criminal activities and wasn’t going to stand idly by anymore.’

‘That’s not normal right?’ Walt ventured, but internally he was seething, he knew there was a reason he disliked Jesse’s parents and this development was alarming, considering Gus’s final warning, and the fact Jesse had a bullet hole in him right now, this was not good.

‘It is very odd, but the kid has no flags against him at the moment that I know of, he’s a pest at best, sure, but his dad seemed to think he had something to tell us, apart from not actually being dead,’ Hank continued to read from his phone. ‘Something about a house, not sure.’ 

‘So, was he picked up?’ Walt tried to sound as calm and casual as possible, but had started to panic internally, why did he agree for Jesse to go there on his own.

‘That’s the odd thing, seems the kid bolted and suddenly his parents had nothing to say, sent our guys packing the minute they showed up,’ Hank shrugged. ‘Sounds like the little shit is best out of that particular house, I mean who rats on their kid like that? Why not let us do our job and we’ll catch that little shit when the time is right not because his dad ratted on him, jesus, show some respect right?’ Hank smiled and patted Walt on the shoulder. ‘Anyway, you were ready to leave, look at me holding you up with work business.’

‘So, this Gale fellow, did those fingerprints you mentioned reveal anything?’ Walt asked, as he walked to the door.

‘Yeah, we got clean prints and they matched someone very interesting, we’re bringing him in tomorrow but I shouldn’t say who, it needs to be top secret as it will create a media circus if it gets out,’ Hank said with joy.

‘Wow, that sounds big,’ Walt enthused, inwardly relieved knowing the prints could not have been Jesse’s then or Hank would be screaming about it already, so they could finally relax.

‘It is, now you tell no one, the prints were Gustavo Frings! Can you believe it, that chicken guy, what was his prints doing at this dead chemist nerd’s house?’ Hank questioned. ‘Now, remember, tell no one, I’m trusting you!’

‘Of course,’ Walt assured him. ‘Wow, you just don’t know some people, do you?’ he feigned surprise but as he turned his back on Hank, a huge smile crossed his face as Heisenberg headed to Walt’s car to drive home.

* * *

‘Jesse,’ Mike calmly spoke, he had been driving for twenty minutes already with no response from the kid, he had even stopped once to ensure the kid was still breathing. ‘Jesse, come on, talk to me, Jesse,’ Mike repeated as he had done since driving away from his parent’s house. ‘Damn it, kid, you missed out the part about just how fucked up your parents are, they called the DEA on you, based on what exactly?’ Mike considered out loud, not expecting a response but still hoping for one.

Jesse was curled up in the passenger seat, the belt wrapped haphazardly around him. He was hugging himself tightly, the only noise was small whimpering and snotty sniffs. It reminded Mike of the time they had dragged his sorry ass out of the crack house to throw him into rehab.

Mike’s phone began to ring, and he answered it after one ring. ‘Walt,’ he acknowledged.

‘How’s Jesse, I assume you helped him get away from his parents,’ Walt quickly asked.

‘Oh, you would not believe the fun and games Jesse and I have had,’ Mike mocked.

‘I know they called the DEA on him,’ Walt countered.

‘Grant showed up at the house,’ Mike returned gravely.

‘Oh god, what happened? Did he see Jesse?’ Walt asked.

‘I don’t think so, I got Jesse out of there whilst his parent’s dealt with Grant and they sent him packing one way or the other,’ Mike sighed loudly. ‘But Jesse is in bad shape, his dad did a number on him, verbally and physically.’

‘Physically?’ Walt checked concerned.

‘I’ve not been able to accurately assess him yet, his face is cut, he’s not responding to me, he’s just,’ Mike glanced over at the huddled figure in his passenger seat. ‘He’s awake but he’s not there, he’s got me worried, I’m just pulling up at the safe house now, I’ll text you the details.’

Mike pulled into the driveway of the safehouse and killed the engine. He slowly got out of the car and went to the passenger side, opening the door. ‘Come on kid, help me out here, don’t make me carry you.’

To Mike’s relief Jesse seemed to respond and edged slowly out of the car. Mike assisted him to his feet and stayed close for the walk to the house, gently nudging him along. Opening the door, he let Jesse walk inside unaided, and watched as the kid beelined to the couch and collapsed into it, lying on his side and burying his head into the cushions.

Mike went back to the car and retrieved some bags, before locking the car and heading back inside. Jesse had not moved, as Mike put the bags down and closed the door. Mike opened one of the bags pulling out a medical kit, before heading over to Jesse’s side.

‘Come on, let me see the damage,’ Mike instructed but Jesse did not respond. ‘Kid, come on, sit up.’

After a bit more encouragement Jesse slowly rose and slumped back against the couch. Mike could see the bleeding had stopped on the cut, which was a small mercy he considered, but his eye was puffy, not quite closed but the kid would have a shiner in the morning. The cut was small, nothing too concerning at least.

‘Let’s get this jacket off so I can properly check your arm, whilst I’m here,’ Mike ordered and with some help from Mike, Jesse shrugged off the jacket.

Mike started to clean Jesse’s face with some medical wipes and applied a butterfly stitch to the small cut to aid healing. ‘You have blood on your shirt, I’ll get you a fresh one,’ Mike continued to keep talking in the hope of encouraging Jesse to talk, but so far, he remained silent to his chatter. He retrieved a clean shirt from Jesse’s bag and then assisted Jesse with taking his bloody shirt off, first removing the sling. ‘Anytime you want to say anything, you remember that I’m a good listener, right kid?’ Mike continued to speak as he pulled the shirt over Jesse’s head, taking care not to aggravate both the shoulder and the cut.

Once the shirt was off Mike could not help but notice the fresh bruising on Jesse’s upper arms, he looked away annoyed momentarily before double checking the bandage on the right shoulder, which seemed intact at least. ‘Any new pain from your shoulder?’ Mike asked, knowing the kid got physical, and worried he might have jarred it when tussling with his dad or in his blind panic. ‘Jesse, answer me, any new pains?’

Jesse gave the briefest shake of the head to indicate no, and Mike accepted that as he helped the kid put a fresh shirt on. Once done he replaced the sling and made sure it was sitting right before stepping back.

‘Do you need anything, Jesse? Pain killers, water, food, blanket?’ Mike reeled off, but Jesse just pushed himself back against the couch and starred absently at the ceiling. ‘You realise how unnerving it is when you are this quiet?’

The silence was now deafening, and Mike sighed. ‘I’m going to make myself some dinner, just some simple mac and cheese, I’ll make enough for both of us but it’s optional, ok, I’ll just be in the kitchen if you need me, ok?’ Mike waited for a time but when there was no response, he made his way into the kitchen. Once there, he took out his phone and gave Walt the house address, hoping that maybe he would have better luck with Jesse.

* * *

The airport was its usual busy mass of people as Grant walked towards the security gate, having just checked in. He kept his cap down to hide the mess of his face from the altercation a couple hours earlier, anger simmered inside him, he didn’t like being blindsided like that and still didn’t totally understand what he had done to deserve that. He loved Jesse, their son and they had hit him, claiming he had hurt him.

He took a couple of pain killers to dull the pain in his head and swore to himself when a bunch of teenagers pushed past him suddenly. He was about to say something when a teacher’s yell made him freeze.

‘Pinkman! Pay attention, stop playing your video game and focus on walking!’

Grant’s attention snapped to the kid playing the handheld game, it felt like a sign to hear that surname. Without thinking he followed the group into the main area and just watched them, keeping his eye on the kid called Pinkman. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but he knew this kid must be related, surely, he was connected to Jesse, Pinkman was not a common name was it? That made him suddenly important.

‘Ok, listen up, our flight landed twenty minutes early so we are going to wait here, your parents are due to be here in half an hour,’ the teacher instructed. ‘If you need the toilet they are just over there. Do not wander from this spot, ok?’

Grant sat down and observed the teenage Pinkman and the more he saw the more he saw flashes of Jesse in the boy’s actions and expressions. He reached up to touch his sore face, the anger still simmering, and he thought of Jesse’s parents. If this kid happened to be a brother of Jesse, then they would be arriving soon to pick him up, he considered. It felt like lady luck was on his side, could this be true that a young Pinkman sibling had been handed to him like this?

‘What will daddy Pinkman do when he discovers another son is gone,’ he thought to himself with menace, nothing but revenge now on his mind.

The opportunity presented itself when a few minutes later he saw Pinkman stand up and wander over to the toilets and he wasted no time in following him.

* * *

The phone rang and Del rolled his eyes, his clicked his fingers towards Franko and he put the phone on speaker.

‘Mr Pinkman,’ Del answered. ‘I assume there’s a reason I’ve had five missed calls in the last hour.’

‘Glad you noticed you’re making me late picking up my son!’ Adam angrily returned.

‘The real one you mean?’ Del mocked and smiled at the silence that presented. ‘Oh, I found out about your dirty little secret, did you think I didn’t know?’

‘Hardly matters, Jesse just told me everything your dirty little secret did to him, that Grant raped him, shot him, and nearly killed him?’ Adam revealed. ‘I think that far outweighs anything you have on me, you should see the state Jesse is in, your kid has really done a number on him, but I guess that runs in the family.’

‘You saw Jesse?’ Del was caught out by this.

‘He was right here, told us everything and I think you know what that means, we had very strict terms about contact with Jesse, he said he had met with you?’ Adam was enjoying himself. ‘That obviously means you have broken the terms, and you know what that means.’

Del glanced at Franko, who looked unnerved before writing something down that Del read out. ‘Still your word against ours.’

‘Why did you see Jesse?’ Adam asked pointedly.

‘To warn him away from Grant, he didn’t remember me, or anything of that time, I was telling him to stop seeing my son,’ Del stated firmly. ‘What the fuck did you do to his head?’

‘What needed to be done after what you did to him,’ Adam returned with venom.

‘The truth is going to hurt if it ever comes out, we should both just cut our losses now and be done with it,’ Del suggested. ‘How about we work an agreement where we both solve the problem we have?’

‘I’m listening,’ Adam agreed.

‘Meet me tomorrow, our old meeting spot, 2pm,’ Del instructed.

‘I’ll be there,’ Adam killed the call, but not before they both heard his wife screaming at him to hurry up as they were running late.

‘Jesse Pinkman needs to be gone,’ Franko stated.

‘I know, I gave the order already, remember? But let’s do this with the Pinkman’s on board,’ Del stated. ‘I can’t believe he told them everything, after all they did to him, and he still went back so they didn’t think he was dead, how messed up is he?’

‘It’s not your concern,’ Franko spoke slowly and clearly, getting to his feet. ‘I have a plan, let’s meet tomorrow morning when I should have it all finalised. It really doesn’t concern me if you think the Pinkmans should be in on it or not, all it changes is that you’re likely going to have to pay them something now whereas my plan was going to be so water tight that no one would ever know he was even gone,’ Franko frowned. ‘Yay, go you, again,’ he mocked.

‘I want everything to do with that kid finished, gone, finito,’ Del raged, but found himself alone in the room as Franko had briskly left. He sighed and closed his eyes, and rubbed his face, no matter what he said or how he said it, it changed nothing about how he was feeling. He didn’t want Jesse to die because of him, but he had no idea how he could stay alive and not be a danger to him if he ever remembered.

He checked his watch, happy at least to know his problem son was at least boarding his plane and would soon be far away, one less thing to worry about.

TBC


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The concluding chapter of part of this series!! Walt is on hand to get Jesse back on his feet but a shocking phonecall threatens his sanity all over again, as Grant takes drastic action!

Walt walked into the house, and Mike shut the door after him. Mike simply gestured with his eyes that Jesse was in the living room, and Walt made his way inside a little unsure what to expect.

‘Hey Jesse,’ Walt ventured as he approached the couch, he was met with silence. Jesse was resting his head one on of the sofa arms, lying down. There was a blanket partially covering him, but he didn’t seem to be paying it much attention. His eyes were open but there was a distance about them, he wasn’t focusing or following any movement, just staring blankly at nothing. ‘I heard what happened at your parents, it’s ok Jesse, you’re safe now,’ Walt said softly and put his hand gently on Jesse’s shoulder, taking care as it was his bad one, but just to offer a reassuring touch.

Jesse shifted a little, but remained silent, his eyes fixed on something across the room. Walt glanced at Mike and he could see the concern in the old man’s features.

‘I have a bowl of mac and cheese for the kid, there’s enough for you as well if you’re hungry,’ Mike offered.

‘That actually sounds great,’ Walt admitted and moved away from Jesse to sit on one of the armchairs. ‘Are you hungry, Jesse? You should eat, and that’s nice easy food,’ there was no reaction, but Walt wasn’t going to give up. ‘Jesse, come on,’ Walt moved back to Jesse’s side and encouraged him to sit up in a way he used to do with Walt Jr on difficult days, it was a technique he had perfected and he was pleased when Jesse started to respond and allow Walt to help him to sit up. With more room on the couch Walt scooted to sit next to Jesse and with a bit more shuffling they were sat side by side. Mike walked in with the food and seemed almost impressed by the progress Walt had made in getting Jesse to sit up again, and he offered a tray of food to Walt.

‘This one is for Jesse, right Jesse?’ Walt directed to Jesse, who’s eyes moved but not much else.

Walt took the tray and put it in front of Jesse, resting it on his lap, making sure it was safe before he then picked up the fork and purposely placed it in Jesse’s hand. ‘Come on Jesse, eat up.’

Walt waited, seeing little recognition from Jesse that was starting to concern Walt, they needed to see something and soon, otherwise this became a much more serious condition and he didn’t want to consider that.

Mike walked in with two more trays and handed another to Walt, who took it and placed it on his own lap this time, he watched as Mike took a seat and proceeded to do likewise with his own food. With a simple look Walt indicated to Mike that they should just start to eat, and his frown indicated he was hoping for the best. Both Mike and Walt began to eat, whilst Jesse just looked at nothing intently. 

‘One more cook, and I will hit the quota for this week,’ Walt spoke up.

‘Gus will be pleased to hear that,’ Mike responded gamely. ‘Nice to know there’s been no disruption to the production schedule.’

‘Oh, forgot to mention, those fingerprints found at Gale’s house?’ Walt continued. ‘They were not Jesse’s so he’s off the hook at least for that one.’

‘That’s good,’ Mike offered.

‘Funny thing, seems they belonged to Gustavo,’ Walt half smiled as Mike snapped his attention towards him. ‘Hank will be asking some questions very soon I imagine.’

‘Gus?’ Jesse checked.

Both men’s attention turned to Jesse, who appeared to be back in the room as he looked at Walt.

‘Yeah, the prints belonged to Gus,’ Walt confirmed.

Jesse seemed to process the information, before gingerly scooping up some of the food and taking a mouthful, it seemed to take a lot of effort but once he had swallowed it, he paused. ‘Quit watching me eat, freaks.’

Walt and Mike continued to eat their own food, both glancing at Jesse to see him slowly take a few more bites, he seemed to be struggling but making the effort. After a while, both Walt and Mike finished their plates, and Mike stood up to take both trays to the kitchen.

‘Try and eat a bit more, you need to eat, remember?’ Walt calmly spoke but saw Jesse’s hand was shaking so he took the fork from him and scooped up some food, presenting it to Jesse to eat. ‘Don’t make this weirder than it needs to be,’ Walt half smiled, and was rewarded with a glare from Jesse and then resignation, as he accepted the food.

Mike returned and simply raised his eyebrows at the scene of Walt feeding Jesse but did not comment, simply pleased to see the kid eating some more. Jesse managed half a plate before he shook his head, pushing Walt’s hand away. Without argument Walt put the fork down and then got up, taking the plate and tray away to be cleaned up in the kitchen.

‘Where’s my room?’ Jesse asked tiredly.

‘Let’s go and find out,’ Mike suggested, getting to his feet and assisting Jesse as he slowly got up.

Mike walked with Jesse up the stairs and let him choose the room he wanted to sleep in, he chose the smallest room at the front of the house. The single bed was all made up, and Jesse wasted no time climbing into it.

‘You don’t want to freshen up or change into night clothes?’ Mike remarked.

‘Just want to sleep,’ Jesse murmured.

‘At least take your shoes off, kid,’ Mike complained, and watched as Jesse lazily kicked them off and got back under the covers. ‘I’ll be back in a few minutes with your meds,’ he indicated and returned downstairs.

‘It’s a start I guess,’ Walt observed once Mike reached the living room.

‘He’s eaten and hopefully will have a good night’s sleep, if we can keep him out of trouble for twenty-four hours we might even get a smile from the kid,’ Mike mocked, then went to one of the bags and retrieved the pills.

‘How many of those is he taking now?’ Walt asked.

‘Painkillers for two more days, and I’m guessing the pills to help keep him calm are necessary tonight, as well as the ones to ease his withdrawal,’ Mike frowned.

‘Yeah, they should help him settle,’ Walt agreed. ‘Do you want me to stay tonight, to help, just in case?’ he then offered.

Mike considered the offer, knowing Jesse did somehow respond to Walt. ‘If that’s ok, I wouldn’t mind the help.’

‘If you want to go home, I’m happy to look after things here,’ Walt then suggested.

‘My orders are to stay with the kid,’ Mike simply said. ‘I’ll get some water and make sure Jesse takes his meds.’

‘So, are you going to warn Gus about his prints?’ Walt asked, as Mike headed to the kitchen to get some water for Jesse.

‘Gus is a big boy, he’ll be able to deal with it,’ Mike simply said. ‘My current assignment needs this glass of water.’

Walt looked at Mike with amusement, liking this development.

* * *

Jake Pinkman walked into the toilets and had no time to react when he felt himself being pushed into one of the cubicles with force, a hand went over his mouth and he felt someone lean in close behind him.

‘You make a noise and you will die, understand?’

Jake nodded his head rapidly, fear immobilising him, as he was spun around to face his attacker.

‘Tell me, do you know Jesse Pinkman?’ Grant sneered.

Jake nodded his head and Grant removed his hand to allow the kid to speak. ‘He’s my brother, older brother, but I’ve not seen him in ages.’

‘Well, well, well,’ Grant smiled, but paused on hearing someone else come into the toilets. Grant waited until he heard the door shut again and turned his attention back to the nervous looking teen, and he leaned in close. ‘Hate to tell you this, but Jesse is dead.’

‘Jesse?’ Jake blurted out. ‘No, you sure, Jesse?’

Grant rolled his eyes, then froze on hearing another noise from the bathroom. Getting tired of interruptions, Grant took off his coat and gestured to Jake to put it on, he then put the cap on Jake’s head. ‘Now walk with me kid and don’t you dare make a noise, ok?’

The kid looked traumatised, and followed the instructions without argument, allowing Grant to lead him out of the toilets and disappearing into the airport crowds.

* * *

Walter White woke up and checked the time, it was nearly 4am and he took a moment to remember where he was when he heard the strangled cry, realising a similar noise probably woke him up. He quickly got out of bed and headed into Jesse’s room, finding him gripping the bed sheets, sweat soaking him as he thrashed about. Walt moved to the side of the bed, noticing the fresh blood on the sheets where the cut on his face had been reopened by the movement.

‘Jesse,’ Walt said sternly. ‘Jesse, wake up,’ he tried again with more force in his voice. He grabbed hold of Jesse’s shoulders, taking care with his injured one, and stopped him moving about. ‘Jesse, wake up,’ he shook him and finally felt Jesse relax, and start taking deep breaths. ‘Jesse? Can you hear me?’

Jesse numbly nodded his head, and then let if fall back against the pillow. ‘Hot,’ he simply said.

‘You didn’t get undressed, Jesse, I’m not surprised,’ Walt remarked seeing the heavy shirt he was wearing and still had his jeans on. ‘Go and get cleaned up, I’ll find some more suitable nightwear.’

Jesse sighed and moved as instructed, heading groggily to the bathroom, whilst Walt found Jesse’s bag that Mike had brought up stairs. He took out a more suitable t-shirt, and found some shorts, he grabbed them and went to the bathroom, knocking lightly before walking in.

‘Here you go, Jesse,’ Walt offered the items, when Jesse didn’t take them, he put them down by the bathtub. ‘Was that just a bad dream or do you have a fever?’ Jesse still looked a bit red and hot.

Jesse threw some more water onto his face, and then leaned on the basin, and Walt noticed he was putting weight on his right arm without much complaint, a good sign he hoped that his shoulder was healing well.

‘Not sure, probably withdrawal effects,’ Jesse simply said, then with some care he took off his tee shirt and discarded it to the floor in a soggy mess.

‘You really are just skin and bones, son,’ Walt observed by way of keeping talking.

Jesse didn’t respond and quickly washed his upper body as best he could with the bandage still on his shoulder.

‘Those bruises on your arm,’ Walt observed, he could make out the grips of fingertips in the black and purple markings on his pale skin. ‘They look new, painful,’ he stated, and moved closer. ‘And your eye,’ he added and knew Jesse would not say anything so continued. ‘I remember you used to come into class with bruises and black eyes, no one said anything because you had a reputation of being that kid, the one kid that was hot headed, picked fights for fun,’ Walt remembered. ‘Your suspected ADHD, your trash talk, your anger it all hid something none of us realised didn’t it?’

Jesse paused, looking lost for a moment. ‘It doesn’t matter now,’ Jesse simply said.

Walt glanced away. ‘Jesus, Jesse, why didn’t you say anything?’ he stated in a calm but strong manner. ‘We could have helped you, we had structures in place to help kids like you. Is that why you moved in with your Aunt? Went off the rails, got into drugs?’

‘I looked after myself,’ Jesse simply said, and moved to the fresh clothing once he had dried upper body.

‘I’m sorry I never noticed,’ Walt offered sadly, a genuine feeling of guilt washed over him.

‘You never do, Mr White,’ Jesse simply said and carefully put on the oversized t-shirt. 

‘Jesse,’ Walt tried to argue but Jesse cut him off.

‘It’s cool, ok?’ Jesse stressed. ‘You don’t have to look out for me and shit, you’re not my dad,’ Jesse froze with his choice of words suddenly struggling to hold his emotions taking a moment to control them before continuing. ‘I should have just let them think I was dead,’ he stated with tears forming. He unbuttoned his jeans and swiftly discarded them into the pile building up on the floor, turning away from Mr White he quickly discarded his boxers, before putting the fresh shorts on.

‘Jesse, you did the right thing, like you always try to do,’ Walt said with care, turning back to Jesse having given him a bit of privacy as he changed clothes. ‘Your father, I’m sure he always thought he was doing the right thing as well, but you did nothing wrong, this is all on him not you.’

‘But I am the one always left beaten, hurting, life’s fair like that right?’ Jesse snarled and walked past Walt to return to his bed.

Walt followed him and stood by his bed. ‘The other night when you actually died in my arms, Jesse, it took that to make me realise that you matter to me,’ he stated firmly.

‘But I didn’t before?’ Jesse asked harshly. ‘When you sent me to deal with Tuco, and I nearly died, when you forced me to get that money back from those crazy junkies, and I got hurt saw that junkie die the worst possible death, oh and when your actions caused your crazy ass brother in law to come after me, and yeah, I nearly died again, or when you asked me to kill a man to save your life, you’re saying I didn’t actually matter to you then? Is that what you are really saying here?’ Jesse questioned bitterly. ‘Because newsflash, yo, I already knew that, Mr White!’

‘Then why did you stay by my side?’ Walt snapped with a flash of anger to being challenged by Jesse.

Jesse composed his emotions, bringing his knees up to his chest as he sat on the bed, he suddenly smirked. ‘Because you made me breakfast.’

‘What?’ Walt was caught out.

‘The last time I felt like this, like the whole world was against me and I totally broke down, unable to cope with the shit that was my life, when I lost everything, my money, my car, my possessions, my house, the meth business, and I was forced to sleep in that blue shit with funky fumes on the floor of the RV and as a last resort, absolute last resort, I came to your house, in the RV and you called me a pathetic junkie, remember that, Mr White?’ Jesse prompted and he could tell by Walt’s expression that he remembered. ‘I snapped, you made me totally snap and I was ready to beat you, Mr White, and I would have done it but then you told me to do it,’ Jesse showed his confusion. ‘You gave me permission, like it was ok for me to beat you to death, and suddenly I didn’t want to, and then,‘ Jesse frowned and looked at Mr White. ‘-Then, you offered to make me breakfast and gave me the chance to clean myself up, and for the first time in days someone was actually doing something for me that was nice.’

Walt smirked as he remembered how blue Jesse had been, and the stench that he would sooner forget but he had never realised what that small action had done. ‘It felt like the right thing to do,’ Walt shrugged. ‘You stank the house out, I had my family asking all evening what had walked through the house and I was tempted to give them your name,’ he smiled, and was pleased to see Jesse offer a small smile in return. ‘Do you want to talk about your dad?’

‘He used to hit me all the time,’ Jesse shrugged. ‘What’s more to tell?’

‘Does he hit your brother?’ Walt asked.

‘I don’t think so,’ Jesse returned. ‘Jake never said if he did, but he was the youngest, I was the oldest so should know better. He has no reason to hit Jake, the kid is a genius, everything they ever wanted from a kid, I was the one that needed fixing,’ he said downcast.

‘It explains so much, Jesse,’ Walt sighed and took a seat close to the bed.

‘Does it?’ Jesse questioned softly. ‘It explains why I’m such a screw up, who let his dad beat him, was too chicken shit to fight back.’

‘You were just a kid,’ Walt argued.

‘Not last night,’ Jesse gestured to his eye.

‘You’re hardly in any state right now to fight, don’t be so hard on yourself,’ Walt returned. ‘Fact remains your father should never have raised his hand to you in the first place, then or now.’

‘We can’t claim the moral high ground, though, can we? Yeah, my dad beat me as a kid, but he never killed anyone, he never did half the things we’ve done,’ Jesse said with sadness.

‘Did your dad always beat you?’ Walter asked.

Jesse considered the question. ‘I don’t think so, no, not always,’ Jesse rubbed his face. ‘I guess it started when I went to high school, and shit got real with exams and schoolwork.

‘I remember you being a good student at first, your grades were steady, and you seemed a good kid,’ Walt remembered. ‘I know I didn’t directly teach you at first, but from the staff room banter I picked up that you seemed to be one of those popular kids, some teachers were clearly fond of you,’ he smiled.

Jesse frowned. ‘First couple of years were ok I guess, I could keep up but then I don’t know, the more serious things got, the less interested I became, and then I couldn’t keep up and it just felt like every other kid was getting it and I was left behind,’ Jesse sighed. ‘I just didn’t want to grow up, I was happy as I was,’ he shrugged. ‘Then my grades started going down and teachers were making a big deal of my acting out in class when they didn’t before, and that’s when things changed at home, I was a bad influence on Jake, I was a disgrace and that’s when it started I think.’

‘You think?’ Walt questioned.

Jesse looked upwards and seemed at odds, and he looked at Walt unsure. ‘They’d make me stay in my room, expected me to study all the time. I wasn’t allowed to even see Jake let alone interact with him, they were worried he was too much of a distraction for me, everything was classed as a distraction, and distractions were bad, that’s all they ever went on about,’ Jesse sighed. ‘I began escaping the house, my parents had no idea at first, I found these people to hang out with, older than me and suddenly all I wanted was to grow up, be like them,’ Jesse remembered, but looked troubled. ‘Started smoking, then weed, did some other crap. It’s all kind of hazy now, I’ve forgotten so much but I know I did some crazy stuff, mixing with bad people and then my parents found out, and they went ape shit at me,’ Jesse closed his eyes for a moment, and rubbed his face. ‘I just can’t remember much, man, I must have hit the drugs hard because I struggled to stay focus, I was out of control so dad started making me take these pills, I don’t know where he got them from or what they were,’ Jesse explained, closing his eyes again, as if the memories pained him. ‘They made me take them twice a day and at first I felt nothing but then,’ Jesse paused, bringing his hand to his face. ‘I know I changed, I can’t prove it, but I know they did something to me because that’s when things went crazy in my head.’

‘They drugged you, to control you?’ Walter checked.

‘I don’t know, I mean, my memories are like mush now and it’s so long ago, I don’t remember much it’s like a fog in my brain. I’d try to talk to them about it but they said it was puberty, growing pains, and it wasn’t what they’d given me but then they stopped giving whatever it was and I know I felt better, but by that point dad had already started beating me. I don’t remember how or when it started just it was happening around that time,’ Jesse recalled, his face stone. ‘Told me it was the only way he could control me as nothing else worked for me, I didn’t want my friends thinking my dad could beat me up so I’d go out looking for fights to explain my injuries, making them worse, getting good at taking hits,’ Jesse closed his eyes at the painful memories. ‘It just further messed me up, and I fell in with the wrong crowd again, a different crowd but still one that I shouldn’t have and that’s how I turned back to drugs, proper drugs that didn’t make me crazy, but it let me escape that hell my parents had created for me, it led to me getting into the business of drugs.’

Walt frowned and did not know what to say, so he slowly stood up and reached to embrace Jesse who didn’t protest and accepted the embrace. ‘We’re not perfect Jesse, but we are also not monsters, ok? We are not monsters, and you did nothing to deserve any of that.’

‘I’m not sure about that,’ Jesse admitted. ‘The things we’ve done in the past year, seriously?’

‘Everything we have done is to ensure we are not killed instead, Jesse, but what your father did, your parents, they did that simply to enable their stupid dreams of having the smartest kid in school and to what end? They pushed you into a life you should never have been exposed to, and now you’re simply surviving their mistakes,’ Walt explained.

‘I never thought of it like that,’ Jesse admitted and seemed to take some comfort in those words, still in Walt’s hold, feeling protected.

‘As long as we stick together, Jesse, and we now have each other’s back then we will ensure we don’t turn into monsters, is that a deal?’

‘Deal,’ Jesse agreed, relaxing into Mr White’s hold. 

Walter instinctively kissed the top of Jesse’s head, as he would his own son and it felt right, and Jesse didn’t react like he might have expected just a few weeks ago with claims of him being a homo, instead Jesse let himself be held, took the comfort being offered and Walt appreciated it, it felt right to have Jesse in his arms.

‘I’m not calling you dad,’ Jesse then murmured to break the mood, as if reading Walt’s mind and Walt couldn’t help the smile he now wore in response. This was nice, and Walt wondered why it had taken so long to feel this with Jesse rather than the constant bickering they usually engaged in.

‘I’m good with that, Mr White is still sufficient, or Heisenberg,’ Walt finally grinned.

‘Fuck off I’m never call you that, Mr White,’ Jesse returned tiredly.

‘Glad we’ve got that settled,’ Walter laughed and reluctantly moved away from Jesse, towards the door. ‘Get some sleep, we can talk more tomorrow,’ Walt indicated, his stare lingering on the young man for a moment as he watched Jesse settled down before closing his door and moving back to his own room.

Before he got there, he heard a floorboard creak behind him and turned to see Mike leaning against the wall, quietly he approached and followed Walter into his room, closing the door. ‘Nicely played, that was a good pep talk, encouraging to see the kid respond like he did, get a few things off his chest no doubt.’

‘You earwigged our private conversation?’ Walt checked with disgust.

‘Jesse is still my concern,’ Mike offered calmly. ‘I need to know he’s ok and you know I’m not always entirely convinced you have his best interests at heart, so naturally If you go and have a little midnight chat with him after hours, it becomes part of my concern.’

Walt scoffed and shook his head. ‘I’m glad I got your approval then,’ Walt mocked. ‘Look, things have changed, seeing him die the other night was the wake-up call I probably needed, ok? You were right, you can have that one.’

Mike offered a wry smile. ‘His parents really did mess him up,’ Mike observed.

‘Seems so,’ Walt returned. ‘I wish I had known just a bit of it when he was at school, just feel like we all let him down.’

‘He might not believe it, if you tell him, but Jesse is too tough for his own good, too proud to just ask for help, prepared to just take the heat, and then deal,’ Mike observed.

‘I never even stopped to think how Jesse got into drugs, into this crazy world. I only ever saw the problem child I saw in his later high school years,’ Walt frowned. ‘It concerns me that he’s so young but seems to have large chunks of his memory just gone, even with the drugs he’s never given me the impression that he’s not all there, you know?’

‘I’ve dealt with many young people who are genuinely lost to drugs and that is not Jesse, he is of sound mind so I tend to agree, so I agree, hearing him unable to recount certain events in his life that appear to be quite pivotal does raise some questions,’ Mike offered.

‘These drugs his parents gave him, he’s convinced they changed him, something about that story concerns me,’ Walt stated. ‘The panic attacks he’s been having, he mentions he’s seen his parents laughing at him, he described the missing memory like a fog, exactly how he described these visions,’ Walt enthused. ‘There is a large part of this puzzle missing and we need to find it out.’

‘How about we first we get Jesse back on his feet, work on fixing him and then see where we are, we need you two back in the lab doing the cooks, bottom line,’ Mike suggested. ‘Gus has been patient, but I don’t know how much longer that will be the case.’

‘I think Jesse could help me in the lab tomorrow, more hands on, he can put weight on his arm now, seems a bit more mobile and could take his mind off other things,’ Walt suggested.

Mike considered it for a moment. ‘He certainly needs the distraction,’ Mike agreed. ‘I will need to take him to a physio in town for an hour in the afternoon for his arm, but that shouldn’t be an issue for timings.’ 

‘Sounds like a plan, Mike we need to stick together, certainly in light of what Gus has waiting for him tomorrow, but Jesse just needs us to be his stability right now,’ Walt mentioned.

‘Agreed,’ Mike said, before turning to open the door. ‘Good night, Walter.’

* * *

Grant stared at the kid who looked terrified back at him, sat on a rickety chair. He had been forced to tape up the kid’s mouth and secure his hands, just to avoid detection at the run-down motel on the edge of the city that he had found himself at whilst he considered his next move. He saw his reflection in the mirror, his face looked a mess and this kid’s father had done it to him, with no warning and Grant could not get past that.

Moving to the kid’s side he checked his pockets and found his passport and wallet, he quickly went through them both, checking all the details.

‘So, your name is Jake, another J Pinkman, interesting parental choice there,’ Grant sneered. ‘What are you ten, eight years younger than Jesse? You’re about fifteen, right?’ Grant asked and Jake rapidly nodded his head. ‘Just a stupid kid,’ he remarked and threw the items on the bed.

Grant could already hear what his father would be screaming at him right now if he knew what he had done, and that he had missed his flight to Italy, but Grant tried not to care, he had unfinished business and his father knew how important that was to deal with. Why had Jesse’s dad hit him so hard, and screaming at him about hurting Jesse? It made no sense to his previous visit, where Jesse’s mother had been so kindly and nice, welcoming even with the bad news he had shared. Maybe it was the grief, he considered, maybe once they had had time to process it, they had deflected their anger at losing their son onto him?

Whatever the reason, Grant could not let them get away with the humiliation it had brought on him, he had done them a kindness and that’s how they repaid him? There was a moment of wondering if that’s why Jesse was estranged from them, it made sense, his father is nuts. He also knew a large part of this was his own grief at losing Jesse, never getting the chance to really get to know him and he stared at Jake again, maybe this would help him, maybe Jake could offer him the solace he was seeking, but he was just a stupid kid.

‘So was Jesse a good brother?’ Grant asked.

Jake just shrugged, unable to talk due to the tape.

‘Will you miss him?’ Grant persisted.

Jake shrugged again then shook his head to indicate no, which surprised Grant enough to move forward and rip the tape off his mouth. The kid cried out but stared wide eyed at Grant waiting for him to speak, fearing the older man.

‘You didn’t like Jesse?’ Grant questioned.

‘He’s a piece of crap, junkie loser,’ Jake spat.

Grant moved to slap the kid but stopped just short of making contact. ‘You watch your mouth!’

‘Is that why you took me? Payback for him, did he do that to your face?’ Jake asked, finding his voice.

‘Jesse wouldn’t hurt me, your piece of shit father did this,’ Grant sneered. ‘That’s why I took you, he attacked me for no reason, said I hurt Jesse, the man is an idiot.’

‘What is your problem?’ Jake asked. ‘Are you crazy or something?’

‘I don’t know,’ Grant honestly spoke, then lashed out at the nearby chair sending it crashing into the wall. ‘I just lost Jesse, your fucking dad hits me in an unprovoked attack, and my own so-called dad is packing me off to Italy,’ Grant raged.

Jake smirked. ‘So, what? There isn’t even a plan here? You actually just took me because you could, that’s just weird, man.’

‘Shut up! I don’t know, I just heard your name and I miss Jesse,’ Grant confessed, lost in thought at the mention of Jesse.

‘We’re you two like Gay for each other?’ Jake smirked, like only a teenager could.

Grant stood up and this time he did clip Jake across the jaw. ‘You have a cocky mouth on you, show some fucking respect.’ He watched as Jake moved his jaw to ease his discomfort.

‘Jesse was a loser, I mean you should have seen how easily I played him last time he came home,’ Jake smiled proudly. ‘My parents always lose their shit around him, makes things so difficult so this time I planted a cheap joint in his room and they fell for it hook, line and sinker, Jesse was gone in hours,’ Jake remained smiling at the memory.

‘You got your own brother thrown out of his home?’ Grant checked in disbelief.

‘We’re brothers in title only, I hardly knew him,’ Jake stated. ‘When he did live at home he was so high he made no sense, my parents wouldn’t even let me be in the same room as him, he’s just a junkie, you’re best off without him.’

Grant looked at the younger Pinkman with sadness, and he remained quiet as he taped up the boy’s mouth again having heard enough. Hit with sudden sorrow for what he had lost, the mess he was in, he become overwhelmed by the situation and got to his feet quickly. He could already hear his dad yelling at him, he’d only known him for a couple of years and it had taken him a long time to even be acknowledged and since then he’d been made to feel like an idiot who couldn’t serve any purpose. 

He had loved Jesse but if he was completely honest he knew it wasn’t reciprocated, Jesse feared him and his anger made him hurt Jesse and then Jesse had pretty much taken his own life, he’d overdosed and he knew it was because of him, what he had done to him. He had hurt Jesse, and not just once, a few times and it broke him up to admit that truth. 

A sob suddenly escaped, and Grant felt his emotions take over as he fell to his knees in grief. He saw images of his mother, it had been so long since he had thought about her, as he tried so hard to be the son his father wanted. Truth was however that his father never wanted him, he always knew that. He glanced up at Jake Pinkman, his face a mixture of confusion and fear as he stared back at the mess Grant had become right before his eyes in a short period of time.

His dad had power, but this was too much, kidnapping a minor with the record he already had was going to be tough even for his father to sweep under the carpet. Grant finally realised that he was dangerous and sick, he was not worthy of any love, he removed his gun for his pocket and took off the safety. Jake became animated in his seat, his hands still secured to the chair, and mouth taped up.

‘Calm down, this isn’t for you,’ Grant solemnly said.

* * *

Jesse opened his eyes suddenly, and it took him a moment to remember where he was as he slowly became more aware. There was a ringing, and once he heard it, he couldn’t unhear it, so he got out of bed and headed towards it. Walking downstairs it was coming from a black bag in the hallway, he rubbed his eyes still drowsy as he absently opened the bag and hit the answer button on the cheap looking phone, but he didn’t speak as his brain hadn’t engaged yet.

‘I’m sorry about Jesse, old man,’ There was a sob and Jesse froze, recognising the voice to be Grant, suddenly awake he dashed up the stairs and checked the first bedroom, glad to see it was where Mike was sleeping. ‘You were right, I never listened, my anger was always my biggest weakness.’

Jesse scrunched his face up, this was difficult to listen to and he was glad to see his entering the room had stirred Mike awake, who now sat up looking confused.

‘I loved Jesse, like I can’t explain, it was an instant attraction and I never meant to hurt him but I’d just lose myself around him,’ Grant continued oblivious to the fact Jesse was listening to every word.

‘Just say go on,’ Jesse whispered and put the phone to Mike’s ear.

‘Go on,’ Mike stated, and Jesse took the phone back, he moved to the wall and scooted down to a crouching position, listening.

‘What more can I say? I’ve done something really stupid, like pathetically stupid but Jesse’s dad hurt me, beat me so hard and I wasn’t thinking, I just did it and now I don’t know what else I can do so I just wanted you to know that this is my final attempt to make things right, to do some good in this world, to take myself out of it. I know you cared for Jesse, you were supposed to protect him and I’m sorry you failed because of me.’

Jesse took a deep breath, as if he knew what was coming next and he threw the phone across the room as the gun shot sounded, a sound he was all too familiar with, and he didn’t know how to react.

‘What the hell is that?’ Mike asked, picking up the phone but hearing nothing. He killed the call and rushed to Jesse’s side. ‘Jesse, talk to me, what just happened, who was on the phone? How did you even get this phone?’

‘It’s over, he’s gone,’ Jesse simply said, but he was barely keeping it together.

‘Who?’

‘I think Grant just killed himself, I heard it, he said some stuff then, gone,’ Jesse recounted, his voice hollow and his expression blank. ‘I just have said something, anything, it would have stopped him.’

‘Jesus, no, Jesse you did the right thing, you didn’t the right thing,’ Mike repeated and then sighed, looking at Jesse still processing what had happened. ‘You don’t have to pretend to be dead anymore at least, takes away the whole Del Burley situation, it means you’re free.’

‘He didn’t have to die,’ Jesse answered.

‘We don’t know that he did die, you heard a gunshot,’ Mike reasoned. ‘You didn’t see anything.’

‘I heard enough, what he was saying, he was confessing his sins or shit, I mean who else would he shoot?’ Jesse asked confused. ‘He was telling me how sorry he was about me, about what he did to me and then bang,’ Jesse stressed. ‘He didn’t mention anyone else being there, that makes no sense.’

‘Calm down,’ Mike stated. ‘Look it nearly 6am, lets go downstairs grab some breakfast, you’re going to the lab today to help Walt with the cook so, let’s just not dwell too much on that piece of shit, because that’s what he was if he is gone, Jesse,’ Mike stressed.

Jesse accepted Mike’s help to get back to his feet and followed him downstairs.

‘Apparently my dad beat the crap out of him,’ Jesse idly said as they walked towards the kitchen.

Mike smirked. ‘So, he does have some use in this world,’ he remarked.

‘Yeah, I feel bad but that kind of makes me happy,’ Jesse admitted and looked guilty for it.

‘You really are a strange one Jesse,’ Mike observed.

* * *

Del raised his eyebrows, seeing the early hour and the name of the caller, he had already missed three calls from him. Reluctantly he sat up in bed and answered.

‘For fucks sake, what?’ Del barked.

‘We can’t make today’s meeting,’ Adam Pinkman flustered. ‘I’m at the police station, my son, Jake, he’s been taken.’

‘Taken?’ Del checked.

‘We think by Jesse,’ Adam stressed. ‘My wife told him we were picking him up at the airport last night, we were running late because I was talking to you, their flight landed early and in that window Jesse had all the time he needed to snatch his brother, probably lured him on some false story that he was picking him up on our behalf.’

‘Why has he taken Jake?’ Del tried to fathom.

‘To get back at us, obviously,’ Adam seethed. ‘I may have hit him and called the DEA on him.’

‘Piece of shit, you really are,’ Del sighed. ‘Ok, well we don’t need you, but rest assured we have plans in place for Jesse Pinkman and I’m sure you equally want him gone, so let’s call a truce on that earlier agreement. Let’s just deal with him, I’ll get your son back and sweeten the deal, then we’re even, ok?’

‘Ok,’ Adam rapidly agreed. ‘Please hurry, he’s all we’ve got.’

Del killed the call and slammed his phone onto the bed beside him. The more he thought about it the more he hated the idea of helping those people, the Pinkmans were trash. He couldn’t quite picture Jesse taking his brother, it just didn’t sit right and even if he only knew Jesse so much, he didn’t seem that kind of spirt to do something so stupid. His own son on the other hand, he totally fit the profile and suddenly Del froze, his son was at the airport last night.

He picked up his phone and dialled, being sent straight to voicemail. ‘When you get this you piece of shit, call me, you better be in Italy when you hear this!’

* * *

Walt couldn’t hide his surprise when he came down at 7am to find Jesse and Mike already eating breakfast, both men were quiet and appeared deep in thought as Walt walked to the fridge to see what was on offer.

‘Everything ok?’ Walt asked when no one spoke.

‘It very well could be,’ Mike spoke up finally.

‘That sounds amazingly optimistic so early in the morning,’ Walt teased.

‘Grant’s dead,’ Jesse stated.

‘Dead?’ Walt checked.

‘He called one of Mike’s phones, I heard it and answered but he didn’t know it was me, thought it was Mike and I heard him kill himself,’ Jesse frowned.

Walt closed his eyes, of all the calls Jesse could have accidently taken. ‘This is good though, right?’ he encouraged, looking at Jesse. ‘No Grant means things return to normal.’

‘I guess,’ Jesse didn’t seem convinced.

‘It sad, I get it, and I know I’ve gotten use to death somewhat but no one killed Grant, he made the decision, a decision that helps you and you now know he won’t hurt anyone else,’ Walt stated, moving to stand next to Jesse. ‘Hey, look at me,’ Walt encouraged and waited until Jesse reluctantly looked at him. ‘Today, we cook, that’s what we do, correct?’

Jesse nodded his head. ‘Correct,’ he mumbled.

‘Don’t make me cheerlead you, Jesse, come on, give me a little more enthusiasm,’ Walt encouraged.

‘Fuck off,’ Jesse then smirked. ‘I’m not your goddam son, I’m ok, ok?’

‘Yes, yes you are,’ Walt grinned.

Walt felt his phone buzz and he looked at a message from Hank. ‘Call me when you get this message, you won’t believe what that shit stain Pinkman has done now!’

Walt stared for a moment at Jesse, took a deep breath and put his phone back in his pocket. That could wait for a little while longer, he decided and instead focused on making his breakfast.

End of Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you thank you thank you for the kudos, the views, the comments - all so very appreciated!
> 
> Part 2 of this series will begin posting fairly soon, I want to finish writing Part 3 before posting Part 2 to ensure I keep the story on track... then begin Part 4 (likely to be the final part... but who knows at this stage, Jesse is still young after all lol!)


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